Arrow, Bequeath my Heart
by Oreana Galena
Summary: When the guardian archer mage, Thunderhawk, sets his eyes upon the healer Sara-Li, he finds himself in a bit of a deadly, treacherous triangle against Troy for her affection. (R), (Thunderhawk x OC), (Crossover)
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Notes:**_ This is very new and the first of its kind for me. Normally, I am the one that makes up the OCs that I pair with whoever, but this time, that is not the case. :P

A friend of mine from deviantart started talking roleplay ideas and, later on down the line, we came up with this little number. While it has a Skyrim backdrop, that's all I really have planned to use in terms of the 'crossover'. Basically, I am just throwing Mobians into the mix while adding a bit of my own flair to this. The only thing you'd really need to google, if anything, is a Skyrim map to know what the layout looks like.

The family line in this story will go: **Spectre, Sojourner, Thunderhawk**, because that's how it was plotted and that's how Kuro prefers it. =)

_**Disclaimer**_: The Brotherhood of Guardians/Mobian critters © to SEGA/Archie

Sara-Li, Luke, Jade-Li, Devon, Cyrus, and Troy © to KuroDeMangaKa

Naveah-Li © Joint custody Oreana/ KuroDeMangaKa

Random side characters © Oreana

_**Description**_: When the guardian archer mage, Thunderhawk, sets his eyes upon the healer Sara-Li, he finds himself in a bit of a deadly, treacherous triangle against Troy for her affection. (**NC-17**), (**Thunderhawk x OC**), (**Crossover**)

_**Musical Inspiration**_: "Crush" – David Archuleta

"Superstar" – S.H.E.

"Sea of Dreams" – Land of Forever

"I can Walk on Water, I can Fly" – Basshunter

* * *

Seeing himself miss again, the lilac echidna guardian expelled an annoyed sigh upwards as his blue eyes locked onto the handmade target he was attempting to hit perfectly with his arrows. Rolling his shoulders back a bit, Thunderhawk tried to loosen up as he placed the arrow back onto the string of his icy, enchanted bow. _Both eyes open_, the guardian reminded himself as he reopened his right eye slowly to have the target better come into view. Upon releasing the arrow, Thunderhawk was quick to open his mouth and release a blast of icy blue flame to magically engulf the tip of the arrow before it struck the target right in the chest area. A grin of accomplishment hooking his muzzle, he relaxed his stance. "Perfect," he complimented to himself.

"Lord Thunderhawk," came a familiar voice, prompting the guardian of Winterhold to turn his focus from practice to the approaching woman.

Smiling at the healer, the elder moved his bow to his back. "Floral-Ca," he greeted, heading towards the purple echidna that had her curly, purple hair adorned in flowers, "why are you in such a rush all of a sudden?"

"Forgive me, my Lord, but I was asked to come and get you," Floral-Ca said breathlessly, removing her hands from her gown she was wearing. "There appears to be trouble at the entrance to the college regarding a family that wishes to stay here."

Thunderhawk's playful smile turned into a serious frown. When it came to the mage's college he resided within, a bit of the knowledge within it was concealed for a reason. There were all too many out there that could easily corrupt their magical teachings, and he had become very selective in who he brought into the stone made walls of the Winterhold College. "Why do they not merely take up residence within the village?" He asked, as he began to make his way through the large, iron bar doors to venture about the old bridge to the front of the college.

"They say there is no room for them," Floral-Ca answered as she kept up with Thunderhawk's brisk pace. "They tried the inn and they were hoping you would have an answer as to where they could stay since you're the ruler here."

It only took him making it to the middle brazier for Thunderhawk to hear the arisen voices at the end of the cobblestone built bridge. The two figures were soon coming into view with little help to the harsh blizzard that was raging a bit that night. Given his many years living in such harsh environment, Thunderhawk had gotten used to the icy chill in the air, so it fazed him very little.

"I am telling you, you are not welcome here!" growled the hooded mage, who was standing guard over the college's entrance. The white tiger, eyes glowing with arcane magic, gestured back from whence the echidna male had come from. "Now—_**get out**_!"

"I am not leaving here until your ruler comes to see me," the beige furred echidna retorted with a furious growl, showing he wasn't going to back down. His wild, black hair, which was mostly covered in snow, shifted almost in his face when he saw the healer returning with a male he hadn't seen before. The lilac echidna wasn't wearing the emerald crown he was told the guardian rulers about Skyrim usually wore, but he could easily see the white, crescent mark upon Thunderhawk's chest from the cobalt, sleeveless attire he was wearing. "Lord Thunderhawk!" He exclaimed, wishing he could get past the mage guard to meet with the elder, but he was stopped dead in his tracks from trying. "I must speak with you! My name is Devon, and my family—!"

Thunderhawk raised his hand to stop Devon from continuing, as he could tell the man was frantic. "Floral-Ca—June, I want you both to head back to the college. It's too cold for the both of you to be out here," he commented, trying to be pleasant though he was narrowing his eyes a bit at June's behavior. Thunderhawk waited for the two to bow out respectfully until turning back to the visitor. "I apologize on my mage's behalf. They know better than to force such actions without consulting with me first. Now, please, speak slowly. What is wrong?"

"My Lord…_**please**_," Devon began once more, bowing slightly at the ruler, "I have a family that means more to me than anything. I just want a place for them more so than myself if that is what it takes."

The guardian hadn't noticed a family, making him wonder if Devon was either pulling his leg or had hid them somewhere. "Who do you have with you?"

"My wife, Jade-Li, my daughter Sara-Li, and my son, Cyrus," Devon answered without hesitation. "The blizzard is really getting to them, and the inn turned us away as they have no rooms left, so I had to put them in the destroyed remains of a home nearby."

Thunderhawk knew what he was talking about. There was a house not far from the entrance of the college that had been burned down by an ice dragon attack a few weeks ago and was never rebuilt. "Come with me," he insisted, as the guardian headed towards the house he figured Devon was speaking of.

The top of the house had been completely demolished as well as a good bit of the eastern side of the building. Making his way cautiously over the frost burned planks, Thunderhawk could see the three Devon had mentioned curled up together in the northern corner of the once proud home in hopes staying there would keep them warm. Seeing the small daughter shivering in her mother's arms with her older brother sacrificing his cape to his mother and sister, Thunderhawk hurried quickly over to them—his suspicions put to the side, as he could see Devon was being serious.

Grabbing the cloak that belonged to Cyrus, Thunderhawk handed it to the young boy who was getting awful frostbite from the look of things. "Take this son," the elder ordered before removing his own dark colored blue cape to rewrap the two women and help them stand.

"Y-You're going to freeze…you even have…s-short sleeves on…" Cyrus remarked wearily as the cold climate was getting to him.

Thunderhawk had escorted Jade-Li and their daughter over to Devon before turning back to the young boy. He had noticed earlier it was almost painful for Cyrus to move his fingers to grip his cape. "I have my ways," he said vaguely, noticing that Cyrus' hands were nearly frozen from the cold. With the cape back about the light-brown furred echidna with periwinkle hair, which matched his mother's and sister's fur and hair in color, Thunderhawk brought the boy's hands close to his mouth to breathe upon it in hopes it would liven Cyrus' fingers once more.

Cyrus had noticed that Thunderhawk's breath was almost fire warm. He would have asked why that was, but his father was more eager to get them out of the storm and derailed the thought.

"Please, you have to let us into the college, my Lord," Devon begged, as he held his wife and daughter close. "We won't be a burden—I promise!"

"It doesn't matter to me," Thunderhawk admitted as he motioned for Devon to follow him back to the school quickly. "We need to get you all out of the cold. Besides, there is more than enough room for you," he called back to the stranger over the roaring, unforgiving wind.

Upon making it back into the Winterhold College, Thunderhawk helped them get situated at one of the empty rooms littered about the circular courtyard. It looked as though it were nothing to him as Thunderhawk did a quick gesture of his hand to light the candles lining the room with his magic to give the space more illumination. Getting Cyrus to one of the empty, wooden chairs, he hissed in dismay at the sight of the boy's hands. "I might be able to help," Thunderhawk muttered between them as he carefully took Cyrus' left hand into both of his after he threw off his elbow length leather gauntlets and began to focus on his fire magic he had control over.

Feeling the unnatural warmth emit from Thunderhawk's palms, Cyrus quickly pulled his hand back. While he had heard of mages and even saw the power they wielded out on the battlefield on occasion, he never had magic worked on him before. "H-How are you doing that…? You're not going to burn me…are you?"

"I am versed in ice and fire magic," the guardian answered, opening his hands again in hopes Cyrus would allow him to continue. "My fire is a bit stronger than my ice, however. I promise; I am not going to burn you. I can heat up my palms enough to warm you faster and better than you holding your hands close to these candles." He did a 'come hither' motion with his fingers, waiting for Cyrus to comply.

"Son," Devon's low voice beckoned from across the room, as he had helped Jade-Li and Sara-Li down on the empty bed. When he caught his child's eyes, he gave him a silent 'go ahead' look, as Devon wasn't about to let his son lose his fingers to the harsh cold.

With Cyrus' hand back within his own, Thunderhawk focused on trying to revitalize the fingers with what warmth he could give. If it were to be more severe, he'd have to see if any of the healers were available at the moment. "What brings you all out this way?" Thunderhawk asked, as he looked over his shoulder at Devon.

Jade-Li looked at her husband as she held the trembling Sara-Li close to her chest to try and continue to keep her daughter warm in Thunderhawk's cobalt cape. "We are actually from Morrowind," Jade-Li answered for a change, as she rubbed the attire against her child's fur to try and relax her trembling. "Well, the island of Vvardenfell, to be precise." Hearing a small whimper emit from Sara, the mother rest her chin upon the top of her child's periwinkle blue hair with a tender shushing sound. "We were merely traveling to weigh our options beyond the island when we got caught up in the blizzard."

Thunderhawk's blue eyes shifted to the little six-year-old in Jade-Li's arms. The look in that child's violet eyes seemed to hold more fear than anything. "You traveled all the way from there to here?" He was trying to hide his shock in the matter given the distance. "Why would you desire to put yourselves through this? I know word travels far and wide—have you not heard of the sudden appearances of dragons here in Skyrim?"

"We were being taxed to death," Devon answered as he did his best to remove the bits of snow that was still embedded in his black beard. "When you have a sick child, you try to really level out the money to make it work, but I was finding myself with less food on the table." He rolled his shoulders with a somber sigh. "I would rather face the small possibilities of dragon attacks than the constant worry my family would starve to death."

Turning his focus back to Cyrus, Thunderhawk removed his hands from the young boy's. "How is that? Can you move your fingers?" He watched as Cyrus struggled for a second, but eventually he was able to do so. "Perfect," praised the guardian quietly as he grabbed up a few bandages and medicine that one of the healers had made for soothing frostbite from the nearby cabinets to wrap the boy's hands and arms a bit. "Just don't overdo it. Your hands still need to heal from being out in the cold for so long."

Turning to the others, he motioned about the room a bit to tell them where everything was upon retrieving his leather gauntlets. "The dining hall is located near the library, which is downstairs in the main building on your right as soon as you enter."

"You have books?" Sara-Li finally asked, the six-year-old's violet eyes looking over at Thunderhawk curiously.

Hearing the innocent question, the elder chuckled softly as he stroked his brown beard. "Yes, we have a wide selection of books on magic," he answered, moving his hands to his knees to be more at par with Sara-Li's height. "Do you like magic?"

Having Thunderhawk talk to her, she retreated back to holding onto her mother tightly with a small smile, which she hid behind her arm.

"She's usually a lot more outspoken than this," Devon admitted with a small laugh. "With all the traveling, we've met our fair share of good and bad people, so she's closed up a bit and become quite shy."

"It's understandable," Thunderhawk said, keeping his eyes on the little girl. "I promise, little Sara-Li; I won't let anybody hurt you." Reaching over for her, he gently rubbed her cheek with his index finger only to find her burying her face a bit more against her mother's embrace. However, hearing the small giggle was enough to make the guardian realize she was merely being bashful.

Turning his focus back to Devon, he nodded at the man. "If you're going to stay here, however, I have one piece of advice for you: be careful about what you do around town. Ever since the Great Collapse, the college has been blamed for Winterhold's destruction and this village has become divided in that regard. Beyond that, you are welcome to stay here until you decide what it is you wish to do."

Forgetting the title Thunderhawk held, Devon didn't mind being bold enough to reach out and shake his hand eagerly. "I thank you, my Lord. If there is anything you need for me to do in return, I'll do it," he insisted.

Thunderhawk didn't mind his title much, so being treated like he was another person on the street was almost welcoming for a change. Hearing Devon's desire to make things even, the lilac echidna shook his head with a throaty chuckle. "I say, take care of your family. That's all any man needs to do," Thunderhawk commented as he placed his hand on top of Devon's before attempting to leave the room.

"But your cape," Jade-Li pointed out, removing it from about herself only halfway when she saw Thunderhawk refuse it from her with a simple shake of his hand. "Don't you…want it? It's quite cold."

"When you've lived in this environment for more than hundred years, you tend to get used to the cold climate," Thunderhawk partially lied. "You can keep it for awhile longer. At least until you find something warmer for yourselves."

With the door closed behind the guardian, Devon turned to his family with a relieved sigh. Heading over to his son, he checked over Cyrus' hands to make sure they were indeed alright. "Do they feel okay?" He asked the nine-year-old as he was careful in how he held the once frostbitten fingers against his palms.

"I feel fine, dad," Cyrus insisted in the candlelit room. "I promise. Whatever it was he did made my hands easier to move."

Devon had never felt prouder of his son as he held him close to his chest in a praising fashion at Cyrus trying to make sure his mom and sister were warm. "That is good your hands will heal. We wouldn't want to have to cut them off," he lightly teased to his eldest child.

"Devon!" Jade-Li scolded, even if she knew her husband was merely joking.

"What!" Devon exclaimed playfully back with a small laugh. "He knows I am just kidding!"

Cyrus shook his head with a roll of his eyes at his father's comment. He had gotten very used to his father's humor. If anything, it was one of those traits that hooked Jade-Li when it came to her times working at the local inn as a serving wench.

"How long are we going to stay here?" Sara-Li asked, refusing to move from her mother's arms. She found the most comfort there with all the traveling they had been doing. The world was much bigger than she had expected it to be from just beyond her bedroom window back on the island.

"Until we can find a way to obtain more money," Devon answered, putting on a more serious frown as he ran his fingers through his wild, black hair. "We have been running low lately, Sara. Since Lord Thunderhawk is being generous enough to let us stay here for free, we may end up just being here for awhile."

Jade-Li had more pressing matters she wanted to talk to Devon about, but in private, as she figured these issues didn't belong on her children's shoulders. "Sara-Li-Cyrus—why don't you two get some sleep? It's been a long day, and you both have been through a lot."

Cyrus was old enough to know what that meant and he hid his sorrowful sigh upon making it over towards his little sister while his parents excused themselves from the small room to head outside in the shared living space. "Let's get you in bed, Sara," Cyrus insisted, as he pulled back the green covers to help situate the small child underneath them.

"What about mommy and daddy?" she asked curiously, knowing there was something wrong in the way they were carrying themselves. To her, they seemed so beaten down.

"They'll be back in a minute." Since there was only the one bed to use, Cyrus merely gave a majority of it to Sara-Li as he rested beside her in a protective manner.

"Do you really find this wise?" Jade-Li asked beyond the closed door in a hushed tone. She wasn't all too certain who was in the other rooms within that housing area of the college beyond themselves, and Jade-Li wasn't about to get off on the wrong foot with those that had lived there longer than herself. "What are we going to do about Cyrus' breathing issues? They may have healers here, Devon, but what if they cannot help him? This environment is going to hurt him more than heal him! The air—it's so thin—!"

Holding onto his wife's upper arms in a supported way, Devon tried to ground the woman he loved. "You always worry too much," he teased tenderly, moving his hands to her cheeks to massage her there lovingly. "While this would be the last place I would have suggested we stay, this is our best option in the end. I don't have enough money to put a roof over our heads again, and if I did, that would only last us so long."

Reaching up to his wrists, she held onto him with a deep, nasally exhale. "Sometimes I feel you don't worry enough," she admitted seriously. "But…whatever you feel is best—," Jade-Li paused and looked up at him with a loving smile, "—I will trust you as I always have."

A crooked smile hooked onto Devon's muzzle as he briefly threw his arms up into the air. "I haven't let you down yet, have I?" Even if she wasn't being too serious, the annoyed frown on Jade's face was enough to make him laugh dismissively at his previous comment. "I am kidding, my love."

"As always," Jade-Li whispered as she leaned forwards to kiss her husband's lower lip at first before deepening it a bit more in the sconces' blue light.

When the sun rose the next day, Sara-Li ended up venturing with her elder brother throughout their new 'home'. When she wouldn't stop talking about the library that the college had, Cyrus decided to give his parents some space to continue to plan out what they were going to do in terms of money while helping his little sibling to the Arcanaeum that Thunderhawk had mentioned the night before. Upon arriving, Cyrus had to admit that he had never seen so many books before in one place. It nearly made him dizzy just trying to stare upwards at the dome type structure of the building to take it all in.

Sara-Li as well was enamored by the sight of it all. When she realized it was all for them to look at, she giggled and hurried as quickly as she could to the first row of books she could reach for her height. A majority of the words she couldn't pronounce at her age, but the beautiful bindings of the books captured her curious heart regardless and widened her desire to learn reading and writing a bit more. As she continued rolling her fingertips upon the spines of the books, Sara-Li stopped at one in particular. It had two words she recognized: _**Healing Spells**_.

Grabbing the leather bound book, Sara-Li struggled a bit with the weight of the tome. She pivoted on the ball of her foot only to spin around and run into somebody Sara-Li knew wasn't her brother given the size of the person she accidentally hit. Trying to hide her embarrassment behind the book, she slowly looked upwards at the familiar face.

Thunderhawk looked down at the little one with a sweet smile. "Found your way to the Arcanaeum, did you now?" He asked as the guardian knelt down before her. "I had a feeling you might." Looking at the book's title upside down, Thunderhawk chuckled at the curious child. "A healer, are you?"

"No," she answered, lowering the book just a little bit to gaze up at the elder a bit better. "I just wanted to look in it. I've never seen spell books before, and I like how healers help people."

Seeing the twinkle in her eye, the elder couldn't help but reach over and lightly mess up her short, periwinkle colored hair. "I am sure if you worked hard enough, you'd be one of the best, little one."

Cyrus merely watched the two interact. Like his father had said, Sara-Li had become very selective in her speech ever since their journey from home. A part of him was worried she'd just stop talking at some point.

It took a second, but a smile eventually made its way across Sara's face when realizing Thunderhawk was trying to be honestly kind. "You breathe fire, yes?" Sara-Li pried with a little giggle as she swayed back and forth with the large tome still in her hands.

Thunderhawk couldn't help but laugh at Sara-Li's question. He had become used to everybody in Winterhold knowing his abilities, so having someone actually be curious about his magic was once again new to the guardian. "I can," he answered with a wink to the small child. "I learned from the dragons not too long ago when they started surfacing."

Cyrus couldn't tell if the guardian was being serious or merely joking, but upon seeing Sara-Li's mouth open a bit wider in surprise, he merely smiled over at her before joining his sister's side. "My sister has been curious about dragons," said Cyrus as he placed his hand upon her shoulder. "We remind her that they are dangerous but, I don't think that's going to rid her of her curiosity."

While Thunderhawk knew personally dragons weren't something to be trifled with, he nodded understandingly at Cyrus. "Well, if either of you are interested in seeing one, I promise that you'll be able to easily do so from the windows in the college. That way, you'll both be a safe distance from them at the very least."

"Has Winterhold seen dragons before?" Cyrus wondered, as he did notice that the house they were in last night was demolished in a way that would suggest a beastly attack of some sort.

"It has," Thunderhawk answered as he ventured over to the third shelf to put back the book he had taken to his room a few nights ago and had meant to return. "They don't attack too often, thankfully, but when they do, we try to make sure there are no casualties."

"Will…_**we**_ see dragons?" Cyrus pried a bit further, sounding a bit nervous in asking that question, but he couldn't help but wonder if they would truly be safe there.

"Mostly from afar," the ruler answered as he made his way to the other side of the room to hunt for something else to read. "Since they started appearing about Skyrim, I've only had to fight off two dragons so far. Hearing from my family, however, I've heard they've had to endure a higher number—namely Whiterun, Riften, and Dawnstar." Seeing the slight worry on the young boy's face, Thunderhawk waved the thought away. "I wouldn't be too concerned about it. Dragons mostly roam about the nearby woods and only bother to come to the villages once in awhile."

Sara-Li had managed to find an empty table in the room, making her drop the book down on the table before jumping up on the chair to start looking at the first page with a confused look. The words that were written upon the pages didn't make sense to her, and it was proving a challenge just trying to piece some of the words together. Her mother had tried to spend time with her to teach her to read and write better, but the lessons had thinned when Cyrus' breathing issues had become more apparent.

"What's the matter, little one?" Thunderhawk asked, as he noticed the concerned look on Sara-Li's face. All he had to do was look at the type of writing on that first page to make him wince a bit. "That book might be a bit too difficult for you to read," he insisted, placing his fingertips on the first page.

"Can you read it to me?" Sara-Li asked boldly, not understanding all too well the position the elder had over where they currently resided.

Thunderhawk chuckled as he moved his gloved fingers from the book Sara had open. "I am not sure when I would be able to find the time, but I can try if you're that interested. However—," Thunderhawk gestured at the book, "—may I?"

Sara-Li removed her hands from the spell book to allow the guardian to take it from her. She watched as he put the book back before grabbing up another one that was a bit skinner than the previous tome.

"My own daughter started off with this one when she was getting into the healing arts at your age," Thunderhawk commented, sliding it slowly over towards Sara-Li. "I think this might be easier for you to understand."

"It might not be," Cyrus reluctantly commented, as he knew reading and writing was a trade that most people knew of the middle and upper classes. "Our mom is trying to teach her, but she's been having a hard time finding the time to do so with other things getting in the way." Cyrus didn't want to implicate himself in the matter, as he knew it might upset his sister.

Seeing the shame in both their eyes, Thunderhawk attempted to lighten the mood. "I'll tell you what," he began tenderly to Sara-Li, "if this is something you desire to look into, I'm normally free about noon or so. If your parents feel alright about it, I can work on teaching you how to read and write a bit better as well as understand the healing spells a bit more."

"A-Are you sure…?" Sara-Li asked, as she still had her small hands on the binding of the book Thunderhawk had given to her.

"I am sure," the guardian responded without hesitation. "Besides, not much goes on around here, and when it does, you'll just have to forgive me excusing myself on occasion to handle things." He moved Sara-Li's periwinkle blue hair out of her way with a smile. "If that's alright with you, of course."

Excitement easily erupted in Sara-Li's small form, as she reached for the ruler to embrace him tightly about the neck. "Thank you!" Her little voice exclaimed as her tail thumped against the wooden chair she was upon.

Cyrus wasn't sure why Sara-Li was suddenly so fixated on becoming a healer, so he ignored the thought for now. "Sara?" He called, interrupting the moment, as he reached for his sister. "We better get going. Also, we better bring something back for mom and dad to eat as well before we head back to the room."

When Sara-Li slid off of the chair and nearly left without the book he had offered her, Thunderhawk grabbed it up and beckoned her back to him. "You might want to take this with you, Sara-Li," the guardian insisted, passing the book back off to her. "Next I see you, I plan on going over it with you." Remembering what Cyrus had said, he motioned down the other hallway. "You can get what you desire from the dining hall. Just be quick as they will be cleaning that table off soon enough before preparing for dinner later on."

With a 'thanks' and a slight bow to Thunderhawk, Cyrus took his sister by the hand and guided her down to the dining hall before they made their way back to the room they had been given. Knocking on the door first, he pushed it open slowly as he could hear his parents speaking in low voices to one another about nothing in particular, so he knew he wasn't interrupting anything.

Devon and Jade-Li looked over at the door with a smile at their children returning without any problems. "Welcome back, you two," said Devon as he moved from the bedside to help his son with the food he had with him. Moving out of the eager Sara-Li's way, he laughed at her desire to get to her mom with the book held above her head. "Found the library I am guessing?"

"We did!" Sara-Li answered, as she plopped the book down close to her mother before crawling in the bed with her. "And the man here found this book, and he gave it to me, so that he can teach me how to read it and use it!"

Jade-Li gave her husband a confused look before looking at the tome her daughter had picked up. "This is a beginner's book on…healing spells." Flipping through the pages a bit, she closed it before gazing at Sara-Li. "Are you sure you want to learn this? These studies will get pretty difficult the more they go on, sweetie."

Sara nodded excitedly before gazing briefly at her brother. "I want to be able to help," she admitted. "I want to be able to help Cyrus feel better—no matter how long it takes me."


	2. Chapter 2

"Are you sure about this?" Cyrus asked Sara-Li the next day. While he was touched by his sister's desire to help him, Cyrus was also concerned about the intensity of these studies.

Keeping the little book close to her chest, she nodded feverishly at her brother's question as Sara-Li waited for Cyrus to put on his boots. "Are you ready now?" She asked with a tilt of her head upon seeing her brother finally getting up from the chair he had been sitting upon.

Chuckling at her eagerness, Cyrus grabbed up the cobalt colored cape that his mom and dad wanted him to return to Thunderhawk. "Yes, I am ready now," he answered, laughter hanging upon his words as he reached for his sister's hand to help her out of the room and to the courtyard.

While the cold air was a bit thin compared to what Cyrus was used to, he could at least hurry to the college and get out of the harsh climate for a moment. Shaking his periwinkle hair to get the snow out of the strands, he asked one of the nearby mages where Thunderhawk's room was before following the directions given up the winding staircase to the top of the college tower. When the decorative double doors came into view, Cyrus sighed a bit nervously before kneeling down to his sister. He really didn't like letting her out of his sight, but he had promised his mom and dad that he would see a few of the healers about Winterhold. "Alright, Sara-Li," he began, handing over the cape, so she could give it to the guardian, "remember what we talked about?"

Sara-Li crossed her arms over the book title she kept in front of her. Swaying back and forth, she nodded at Cyrus' question. "If anything goes wrong, I run to mommy, daddy, or you," Sara-Li answered.

"We'll be back at the room for the most part," Cyrus reminded her as he fixed Sara's green dress with black embroidery. "We'll be there if you need us."

Knocking on the door for his sister, Thunderhawk's voice came from the other side. "It's open."

Pushing open the door, Cyrus peeked inside of the bedchambers belonging to the ruler. "Whoa…" Cyrus said in shock at the small garden that was there at the center of the room that appeared illuminated by magical, blue-lights, which hovered about. "This room is bigger than our old house," he muttered between him and his sister, looking at the alchemy desk off to the right side with an enchanting table as well at the other side of the room.

Thunderhawk made his way from the desk he was studying at behind the slightly curved cobblestone wall that contained his garden. His curious frown as to who was there eventually relaxed into a tender smile at the two making it into his room. "Hello there," he greeted, fixing his leather gauntlets. "Glad to see you both made it here alright."

Meeting Thunderhawk halfway, Sara-Li stood on her tippy toes to try and hand over the folded cloak, which belonged to the elder. "We brought your cape back," she said a bit shyly.

Taking to one knee, the guardian reached for the cape to find it was even washed when he took it into his hands. "Your mother didn't have to go through the trouble of making sure it was spotless," he assured Sara-Li and her brother.

"She figured it was a way to repay you for everything you have done," Cyrus pointed out with a smile to the leader.

Thunderhawk smiled his appreciation in return before standing back to his feet. "Will you be joining us then, Cyrus?" He understood that someone as young as Sara-Li needed to be escorted to his room, but he wasn't aware if perhaps the boy was interested in some sort of magic as well. "I can teach you what I can about ice or fire magic if you like?"

"I appreciate it, my Lord, but I wouldn't be able to handle it given my…health and all," Cyrus hesitantly commented. "Speaking of, however, I did promise my mother and father I would meet with some healers to see if anything could be done about it."

Nodding at Cyrus' words, Thunderhawk gestured towards the young boy's sister. "I will make sure that her studies end around evening. If your parents desire it to be earlier, well, you know where my room is," the guardian said with a brief chuckle. "You don't need to worry about disrupting anything."

Sara-Li hugged her brother once more before she watched Cyrus leave the room. Never had she felt so small before without her family there beside her. She had no reason to be scared of Thunderhawk, but little Sara-Li couldn't help but feel a bit weak-kneed at being alone with a stranger. Bringing the healing spells beginner book up to her face to cover it a bit, she peered up beyond the edges of the tome to gaze at the lilac echidna male.

He could see how timid the little Sara-Li was, making him kneel back down to her level, so that he would appear less intimidating in stature. "Your brother's health isn't the best, is it?" Thunderhawk inquired curiously, as he wanted to break the ice a bit with the little maiden.

Shaking her head at his question, Sara kept the book close to her chest.

"Can I ask you what is wrong with him?" Thunderhawk asked a bit further with a tilt of his head. "It might help me know what we're up against in terms of training." Seeing the curious look in her violet eyes, he smiled briefly before playfully bopping her nose with the tip of his finger. "I may be old, but I am not blind, little one. I know you're doing this for your brother."

Sara-Li rubbed her nose with the back of her hand, struggling to talk about it for a second before finally finding the words to do so. "He can't breathe well," her small, innocent voice explained. "There are times he has a hard time breathing. If his allergies start, he begins wheezing, or wherever the air is hard to breathe."

Thunderhawk furrowed his brow at her comment regarding Cyrus' weak respiratory system. "And yet your parents are here in a very difficult climate for him to breathe within," he pointed out with a bit of concern. "The air here is really thin," Thunderhawk explained, "so I am a bit concerned about him trying to have a normal life out in the cold."

Sara-Li rolled her shoulders as she moved some of her periwinkle blue hair out of her way. "He was okay when we first arrived," she pointed out to the guardian. "The air didn't hurt his breathing."

"I guess there must be moments his lungs cannot handle too much strain," Thunderhawk pondered as he stood back up with a grunt. "To be honest, I am not sure there is much we can do in such a situation, but we can do our best." Motioning with two fingers for her to follow him, he ventured over near the alchemy table where he had an extra table for her to sit at. "We can study here."

Seeing him move the chair for her to sit upon, Sara-Li made her way over towards the desk to sit the book down on the flat, circular surface and then moved herself upon the mahogany made piece of furniture. "Are you going to read it to me now?" She curiously wondered as she opened to the first page.

Thunderhawk cocked his brow at Sara-Li with a playful sideways smile before shaking his finger at her. "No, no—I'll read it _**with**_ you," he answered as he leaned over her to look at the first page with Sara-Li. "Read until you get stuck," the guardian ordered as he touched the first word she was to start at. "I'll help you break down the word and understand the ones you get stuck at."

"Will you teach me magic too?" Sara-Li asked, as she looked at the leader through her wild bangs.

"I can help you understand the tome," Thunderhawk explained with a throaty chuckle. "I told you, I don't know the first thing about using healing magic; at least not very well anyways." Seeing the disappointment in her eyes, Thunderhawk touched her cheek with his index finger to get her to look back at him when Sara-Li tried to gaze away. "Each person here isn't born with a talent to cast fire, ice, healing, or any specific type of spells," he began with a shake of his head. "It is up to that person to learn from those that are better than them and learn techniques on their own time from past masters or even experiment on their own."

He paused for a moment before continuing as he could tell Sara-Li was still a bit confused at the point he was trying to make. "My father is one of the best arcane mages there are, and my grandfather is one of the best in the use of illusion magic and what they call 'puppeting' magic. If you think I was to be born with their magic in my blood, you're sourly mistaken, little one. I had to learn on my own how to use fire and ice magic, and my daughter, she did her best to learn healing and defensive magic." Folding his arms in front of the space closest to Sara-Li upon the table, he smiled briefly at the small child. "I can help you understand reading and writing better, so that the healing spells will make sense to you, as well as help you get down the important formulas when it comes to conjuring a spell to begin with, but after that, all I can do is monitor your progress and assist best I can."

With it making sense to Sara-Li, the young child nodded as she brought her hands together in front of the open text. "I'll do my best," she said quietly, as if it were a secret between them.

Thunderhawk expelled a playful, nasally huff. "I have a feeling you'll do more than that given what drives you." His blue eyes shifting back to the first page, he looked back at Sara-Li with a smirk. "Now, read."

The entire room was filled with Sara-Li's voice as she attempted to read through the book aloud with Thunderhawk nearby. At times, Thunderhawk had to step away to make lunch for them or to check through his ingredient list regarding alchemy supplies, so he had asked her to speak louder when he was across the room or in any adjoining rooms. Sara-Li did stumble over a few words, but the guardian did help her break them down as promised and explained to her what it meant in the sentence it was within to give her a better understanding of it.

After the last sentence was read, Sara-Li turned the book over before looking about the room to see that Thunderhawk hadn't returned from behind the partially built cobblestone wall in his room. "I'm done!" She called, hoping that the leader could hear her.

"You read fast," Thunderhawk called back from where he was behind the garden wall with a bag in hand. Making it back into view, he checked the positioning of the sun from beyond his window with a smile. "Sadly, we'll have to resume this later. I did promise your brother I would return you to your family about the coming of night, so I best keep my word."

"Will I be learning how to do the spells tomorrow?" Sara-Li asked, as she closed the book and hopped down from the chair.

"We'll get there," Thunderhawk laughed as he made sure she kept the tome he had offered to her the day before. "Keep that book, and make sure you read over it and can understand it. That is when we'll be able to take it a bit further."

Sara-Li nodded with a smile as she kept up with the elder as they made their way out of his bedroom and about the courtyard. With how badly she was shivering, Sara-Li grabbed onto the cobalt colored cape and wrapped herself a bit within it.

Thunderhawk could feel her trembling there against his leg, prompting him to bend down to pick her up into his arms and wrap her a bit tighter in his cloak. "I promise, the longer you are here, the harder it'll be to notice the cold."

Upon making it to the dorm room area that he was aware Devon and his family was, Thunderhawk allowed himself into the main casual area before making it to the family's bedroom door to knock upon it. "Devon?" Thunderhawk called as the knuckles of his gloves rapped upon the wood. "It is I, Thunderhawk, with Sara-Li."

The door opened in no time at all to show the beige furred echidna there. Seeing his little girl safe and sound, he reached for Sara-Li to untangle her from the cape and take her back into his arms. "There you are, you little munchkin," Devon smirked, kissing her cheek. "I was beginning to wonder when you'd get back." Helping his daughter back down to her feet, he watched as she hurried over towards her mother, who appeared to be upon the bed trying to read to Cyrus.

"Devon?" Thunderhawk whispered between them, nodded towards the shared living space to those in that tower. "May I speak with you in private a moment?"

"Of course, my Lord," Devon answered without hesitation. He shut the door behind him quietly, hoping that whatever it was Thunderhawk had to say wouldn't put his family back out on the streets. "My daughter wasn't that much of a bother, was she?" He joked lightly.

Thunderhawk shook his head with a brief laugh. "No, of course not," he said as he made it over towards the circular well like creation in the middle of the room that poured forth a magical blue light all the way up the top of the tower. Upon making it to the cobblestone constructed formation, Thunderhawk offered the bag of items over to Devon.

"What's this?" Devon asked as he took the sack to open it up and find a few full vials in a protective case with a bit of food as well. "My Lord…?"

"Sara-Li told me what brings you in such a dangerous position," Thunderhawk answered, crossing his arms upon the stone before him. "Afraid I don't know all too well what is causing your son's respiratory issues, but I did have a few potions lying around that might be able to make it less likely to attack him in this climate. If he takes those potions, it should aid his lungs a bit to make them less likely to hinder his breathing." He rolled his shoulders like the gesture was nothing. "Also, the food is for your family. I was able to pull out some of my rations for you to take, as you are feeding two growing children, and I can bother the cooking servants when I desire."

Devon wasn't sure what to say at first. Thunderhawk hardly knew them, and they weren't even offering anything to the college in terms of magic let alone money, and yet Thunderhawk was willing to do so much. "You do so much for your people and even vagabonds like us," Devon chuckled softly between them as he kept the bag close to his chest. "Is there anything I can do to repay it all, my Lord?"

Gazing back at the closed door, which would lead into the room Devon had for now, Thunderhawk smiled sincerely at the young man. "I think in time you will. We don't have many healers here, and I have no doubt Sara-Li will be one of the best given what drives her to be so."

Devon gazed back on the door as well before moving his wild, black hair out of his way. "She is my special little angel," he admitted, feeling a bit guilty about everything he had dragged Sara-Li and Cyrus through just to find them a better life.

"Make Cyrus take one of those potions tonight," Thunderhawk insisted, as he found the road of conversation running a bit thin. "See if it helps him a bit tomorrow by taking him outside after you give him another in the morning." He shifted his focus about the handmade structure they were in with a soft sigh. "Afraid these old walls can only do so much for his condition."

"Thank you, Lord Thunderhawk," Devon praised, as he kept the items close to him still.

"One in the morning, and one at night," Thunderhawk reminded the young man. "Got that? We'll see if his body will keep up with it all as we continue onwards." With that said he waved his farewell to Devon and made it back out into the courtyard to head back to his own training he didn't have a chance to get to.

Cyrus didn't feel any different when he had taken the potions as instructed by his father. When she saw her husband was intent on making sure that Cyrus did go outside, Jade-Li couldn't deny she was quite nervous about all of this. "Are you sure we should do this?" Jade-Li asked Devon in private, not desiring for her son to collapse from lack of adequate air getting to him.

"I trust Lord Thunderhawk," Devon answered without question, holding onto his lover's upper arms. "He's done a lot for us already. Why would you question him now?"

"Because that's our son," Jade-Li said in return, furrowing her brow with a submissive sigh. "But…fine. If anything happens to him, we are coming right back here without another question."

"Of course, my love," chuckled Devon as he opened the door to the bedroom to look inside to find Cyrus and Sara-Li appeared to be dressed and prepared to head out. "Are you two about ready to go?"

"I'm as ready as I'm going to be," Cyrus admitted a bit nervously as he got to his feet while taking Sara's hand within his own.

"You will let us know if something feels wrong, right?" Jade-Li wanted reassurance that her son wouldn't hesitate to let her know when he started feeling ill. Cupping her son's cheeks, she smiled at him briefly. "You know I just don't want you to feel you have to brave it out for us."

"Mom," Cyrus began almost in a playful whine, "I'll tell you if I cannot breathe still. I promise."

"Lord Thunderhawk had told me he would be practicing with a group outside of the college for a bit anyways," Devon went onwards to explain to his wife as they made it out of their room and slowly into the icy cold atmosphere. "If anything happens, I am sure he won't hesitant to help us get quickly back to the college grounds."

The courtyard was horribly restricted in regards to how the mages could practice, so Thunderhawk and the other mages would find themselves venturing just outside of Winterhold to train there. Devon carefully led his family through the village covered in snow and out to the nearby clearing just down the hill to the east.

Jade-Li had never seen mages work their magic so freely in such a way. It almost made her periwinkle fur stand on end at the sight of destruction magic being used in such ways that it melted the snow and or decimated trees. "Never knew mages could be so…powerful."

Sara-Li didn't appear put-off by what she was viewing. Any worry of it was displaced by a happy smile and a feverish wave at Thunderhawk, who she could see not far away from where they stood. "Thunderhawk!" She called, hurrying after the archer mage in hopes to get to him.

After letting the arrow fly to its target, Thunderhawk hummed in question as to who was calling for him at first until he saw Sara-Li heading towards him. "I was hoping you'd make it out here with your family," said the guardian, as he lowered his bow before kneeling into the snow to meet Sara-Li.

Sara had never seen his bow actually shimmering before. She noticed that the swirling marks were shining a bright white light. "Your weapon is glowing," Sara-Li pointed out, sounding a bit mystified by it.

"Mm?" Thunderhawk brought his bow back into sight, forgetting that it did that on occasion. "Ah, well, it's enchanted with ice magic, my dear. It aids in my ice arrows that I hit my enemies with."

"Did you enchant it yourself?" Jade-Li asked, as she made it closer to the elder, her hands clasped close to her chest in curiosity as well.

"I did," answered the guardian as he got back to his feet. "It took quite a deal of work, but I managed. I was given the bow by my father, Sojourner, the King of Whiterun." Turning his attention to Cyrus, he smiled at the young boy. "Are you feeling alright?"

"So far so good," Cyrus admitted. He was almost finding himself at a loss for words regarding the thanks he should express to the King of Winterhold for everything he had done.

"Well, just let us know if something flairs up," Thunderhawk insisted with a gentle tap to the boy's upper arm. "I have mages here that can teleport you and your family back to the college." Feeling the gentle tug on his bow, the lilac furred echidna looked down at Sara-Li to find her curiously rolling her fingers over the illuminated designs. "Did you want to try and shoot an arrow?"

Jade-Li couldn't help but place her hand upon her chest to steady her heart, which threatened to leap into her throat at that suggestion. "Oh, I don't know if that's—!"

"I promise, my sweet Jade-Li, I won't let anything happen to her," Thunderhawk swore. "Besides, you can watch us, and you're welcome to punch me if I harm her."

Devon couldn't help but laugh at the joking comment, even if Jade-Li shot a rather irritable glance at her husband. Apologizing through his laughter he attempted to settle, he held his wife close to his chest. "She'll be fine as long as a professional archer is there beside her."

Thunderhawk inwardly chuckled himself as the bow was bigger than Sara-Li anyways. Bending his body slightly so that he was at par with the young child, he situated the bow in her hands. "Hold it like this," he instructed, keeping her left hand on the wooden, light-blue crafted center of the bow. "Now, take the arrow, and pull it against the string." Thunderhawk was aware that, by herself, it would be impossible for her to put that much force against the string in her age, so he helped pull the arrow back with her hand upon the end of the projectile. He had his left hand upon her own as well to make sure that the arrow wouldn't cause any burn marks against her fur in the process when it was to fly. "Are you ready?"

"I am ready!" Sara-Li said eagerly, wanting to see the arrow fly up close as she was.

"Alright, now, release," Thunderhawk said simply, feeling her let go of the arrow at the same time he did. When the arrow hit the trunk of the tree as intended, the guardian looked down at Sara-Li with a chuckle. "You're a natural. When you get older, I have no doubt you'll be hitting marks better than myself."

Giggling shyly at his comment, Sara-Li grabbed onto her emerald colored dress before hurrying over towards her parents. "Mommy, did you see that!" She exclaimed happily, reaching for her mother.

Able to breathe a sigh of relief, Jade-Li picked up her child and hugged her tightly with a kiss to her cheek. "I sure did, sweetie. You did a great job," she praised, holding Sara-Li close to her chest.

"I better get back to training," Thunderhawk said with a smile to the family. "You're welcome to do as you please, but just stay close. Some of these mages are a bit unsteady with their aim, and I don't want you to be in the way of that." Drawing another arrow from his quiver, Thunderhawk took no time at all firing it back at the tree's trunk.

"Let's go have a look around then, yes?" Devon suggested to his family, as he wasn't able to really enjoy the scenery when they arrived given their situation they were in beforehand.

"Can I stay here?" Sara-Li asked, looking between her parents. Seeing the confusion in her parent's eyes, she looked back at Thunderhawk briefly before saying, "I just want to watch him train."

"I will watch over her," assured the guardian, as he saw the concern wrinkling the brow of her parents. "Just remember to come back to me if the medicine starts to show signs of weakening." With the family finally reaching an agreement and promising Sara-Li they'd return in a moment, Thunderhawk watched as they made their way about the training space to get a better idea of what mages were capable of. "So, were you able to think about the book last night?" Thunderhawk asked, as he let another arrow fly to the trunk of the tree, splitting one of his other arrows in half in the process.

"Yes, but I am not sure how I will be able to con…conju—."

Hearing Sara-Li struggle with the word, Thunderhawk corrected her as he drew another arrow. "_Conjure_," he said simply as he put the arrow to the bowstring, "and you will. Don't you dare doubt yourself."

Sara-Li had sat down on the snow, bringing her knees to her chest with a curious tilt of her head. "Can you really breathe fire?" She asked, as she had yet to actually see him do it. "I know dragons can, as I have read about them some, but I didn't think echidnas could."

Thunderhawk looked at Sara-Li out of the corner of his eye with a smirk. "Do you want to see?" He asked. Seeing her feverishly nod, the guardian readied the arrow back on the bowstring in preparation to fire. Upon releasing it, he opened his mouth and expelled a harsh, red flame to engulf the end of the arrow before the arrowed head buried within the tree and lit it on fire.

Seeing the fire actually come from an echidna's mouth, Sara-Li was in shock at the sight. Looking back up at Thunderhawk, she clapped her hands excitedly. "Again!" She begged, like it was a show she had a front row seat to.

Thunderhawk laughed at her excitement in the display before opening his mouth just a bit to allow the flames to steadily slide from his mouth before he had to stop in worry the flame might draft upwards and get his nose. "I can breathe an icy fire as well, but it's harder for me to get a good hold onto. I've not practiced with it in some time," he admitted, rubbing his brown beard to make sure he didn't singe it again.

As the training persisted throughout the day, Thunderhawk found it to becoming quite late, and he figured it would be a good time more than any to retreat back to the college grounds. He hadn't heard Cyrus' breathing got out of control, also putting more relief on matters as he packed up his belongings and headed over to Sara-Li to pick her up into his arms. "Alright, let's get you back to your family," Thunderhawk said tenderly as he stroked the periwinkle hair of the child.

As Sara-Li lulled into his embrace, she found that the surrounding area was suddenly covered in shadow. Looking upwards at the sky, the fur on the child spiked in crippling fear as she screamed at the sight of an actual dragon hovering not far from the training grounds.

Turning around quickly to see the ice dragon there, preparing for an icy attack, Thunderhawk grabbed his cobalt cape to bring it up to block off the oncoming assault with the magical fabric, which was able to negate a majority of the hit. Thunderhawk could hear Sara-Li screaming and crying as she held onto him tightly. Growling at the ground shaking upon the massive beast landing finally, he hurried as quickly as he could to safety with the child even if he was doing his best to hide the pain that had stung his back from the dragon actually landing a blow.

"My baby!" Jade-Li exclaimed tearfully through the madness and fearful screams that followed from the mighty roar of the landing dragon. "Where is my baby!"

Thunderhawk was able to finally reach Jade-Li and Devon halfway, handing over Sara-Li as he was able to ready his bow. "Get out of here!" He demanded, whistling sharply for his steed he had nearby in the woods. "Head for the portals the conjuring mages are making, and get back to the college!" When his white stallion finally came into view, Thunderhawk grabbed onto the reins and hefted himself on the back of the horse without the creature stopping to wait for him.

Sara-Li watched through her fearful tears and her mother's protective embrace as Thunderhawk road right towards the dragon, firing his arrows he engulfed with his flame breath before dismounting off of his horse not far from where the dragon was perched to have a flame war with the massive creature. She could see the ice and fire collide together in a power struggle before the scene disappeared and everything was replaced with the surrounding college.


	3. Chapter 3

"Sara-Li, are you alright!" Devon exclaimed as he checked over his daughter. He thought that his heart nearly stopped at the sight of the dragon's icy breath being so close to his child.

While still in a bit of shock, Sara managed a tearful nod at her father's question.

"Where is Lord Thunderhawk?" Cyrus asked, as he had seen the leader take a majority of the hit from the beast earlier.

"I don't know, sweetheart," Jade-Li answered as she looked back at the portals, which soon disappeared after the last student stepped through. "He went to take on that dragon but…he should be fine." She sounded a bit unsure as Jade-Li had only heard stories about dragons. Actually seeing one up close nearly made her faint.

"Come," Devon insisted, as he urged his family back towards the living quarters for those at the college. "We shouldn't stay out here waiting. You all will just wrap yourselves up into a heap of nerves if you do." While worried as well, Devon wanted to believe Thunderhawk would be able to handle himself. More than anything, he hoped so so that he could repay Thunderhawk for aiding his daughter during the attack.

The head of the mighty dragon collapsed to the snowy ground soon enough with a defeated roar. Standing there with his labored breath expelling in crystalline vapor, Thunderhawk fixed his torn tunic best he could. While the beast was able to land another blow across his chest, he was thankful he had that healing potion with him to conceal the wounds a bit faster. Seeing that the cobalt colored tunic was ripped beyond repair at the moment and stained with his own blood, Thunderhawk grunted and ripped the fabric clear off of his chest.

"I'll have to get Floral-Ca to fix it later," he mumbled to himself, looking at the tattered pieces that were in his gloved hand. Since his arrows were so limited, Thunderhawk made his way over the massive body to pluck out the ones he managed to loosen from the thick, scaly body of the dragon. After wiping them clean, he placed them back into his quiver while staring at the massive creature. _I'll have one of the local blacksmiths come out and gather up the body. They can make better use of it than I can._

Admittedly, he had already taken a few scales and claws for his alchemy, so he had what he wanted from the dragon. He hated to see the rest of it go to waste, so he had to make sure that the meat could be eaten or its scales and bones could be put to use back at the village. Looking at his white horse, he grabbed a hold of the reins and guided him back to Winterhold. "Easy does it, Silverstar," he whispered to the Clydesdale, which had taken a bit of a frost burn upon his back left leg. "I'll get you back to the stables and healed up in no time."

Devon found himself a bit uneasy as the time passed. He hadn't seen Thunderhawk do much lately in terms of fighting, so he wasn't all too sure what the mage was capable of. With his wife occupying the children, he found himself out in the circular courtyard. His folded arms upon the snow covered cobblestone wall, which reached just above his stomach, Devon turned his focus to the sound of the iron gate moaning upon its hinges. Seeing Thunderhawk make his way into the courtyard without a shirt, Devon couldn't help but run over to the leader in amazement that the ruler hadn't bothered with wrapping himself up in his cape at least. "Lord Thunderhawk…! You're—!"

"—Alive?" Thunderhawk attempted to finish as he chuckled at the awkward disbelief in the man's eyes. "Yes, it will take a lot more than that to kill an old fossil like me."

"No, I meant…" Devon was trying to comment about how cold he must be, and not to mention the wound now displayed across the guardian's chest, but he merely smiled and shook his head. "Never mind, it's just, I saw you take that big hit from the dragon, and it had me worried."

"The frost attack?" Thunderhawk was never too sure what a 'big hit' was considered to look or feel like anymore, so he merely guessed until seeing Devon's nod. "Well, my cloak is enchanted to ward off a good majority of any incoming frost fire or magic. I still took a bit of the hit, but I should be okay." Truthfully, he was doing his best to shrug off the pain still stinging the large wound on his back as well as keeping Devon from prying at it as his cloak was still concealing it.

"Anyways," the guardian began with a minor wave at the thought, "I best get it looked at all the same." He was reminded for a moment of the tattered clothing in his arms. "I should also get this fixed. I was a bit careless and the dragon's claws came a bit too close for comfort."

"My wife can sew," Devon offered right away, nodding back towards the living quarters. "She can help fix it. I know she won't mind."

"I don't want to trouble her," Thunderhawk insisted, as he brought the fabric closer to himself.

"You saved our daughter," Devon pointed out with a bit of a playful scoff. "I don't think she'll consider the offer too much trouble, really."

"I was doing what anybody would have done for their people. Also, I promised I would watch over Sara-Li when you were seeing how well your son reacted to the potion I gave him," Thunderhawk said honestly. Giving it a thought, however, he eventually relented and handed over the tattered shirt. "Give Jade-Li my thanks. I'll do my best to be available for reading and writing sessions tomorrow for your daughter." Thunderhawk wanted to curb the pain that was biting at his body before he took on much interaction with someone else.

Devon shook his head playfully at Thunderhawk's comment before lightly tapping his upper arm. "You really should focus on yourself for now. That was quite the battle you endured, no doubt, seeing as I only saw part of it as I ended up running away."

Thunderhawk laughed softly at Devon's comment with a roll of his shoulders. "Smart choice, all the same." Gesturing back to the rooms, a small smile graced Thunderhawk's muzzle. "Your family probably needs you right now after such a frightening event. Be well, Devon."

"You do the same, my Lord," Devon said in return, as he pivoted on his heels to head back to his family.

Jade-Li was reading a story to Sara-Li while Cyrus listened contently from the chair not far from the bed. With all the excitement, she was trying to calm her daughter's mind and settle her into a nap if she could. Sara-Li had begun nodding off at the sound of her mother's soft and loving tone. Hearing the rhythmic, gentle beating of her mother's heart as well was enough to make her close her eyes before Jade-Li even reached the middle of the children's fairy tale. Hearing the sound of the door opening, Jade-Li looked up from the book to see her husband returning.

Noticing that Sara-Li hadn't stirred yet, Jade smiled down at the fact she had fallen asleep before closing the children's book. "What do you have there, Devon?" she whispered, as she saw the tattered clothing there in his hands.

"Well, it used to be Lord Thunderhawk's shirt, but it got kind of torn up from the fight," Devon explained with a throaty chuckle. Making it over to his wife, he kissed her lips lovingly while stroking his daughter's head in a cautious manner as he didn't wish to rouse her. "I told him that you could sew it back together given what he had done for our daughter." He watched as Jade took the fabric into her hands. "He also thanks you for your time."

Jade-Li eyed the fabric to notice it was indeed in tatters. "I might need more of the same cloth to get it repaired again. It looks like some of it might have gotten lost in the snow out there." She shook her head at the mere thought of that dragon scratching at Thunderhawk to cause that kind of tear. "Goodness, how did he survive this?"

Devon shrugged as he sat on the edge of the bed. "The man's magical," he teased. "If you need more fabric, I can head into town to grab it for you while the shops are still open."

"Might be wise," Jade-Li responded, as she put the shirt off to the side for the moment. "At least then I can work on it some today and hopefully have it finished before Sara-Li goes to see him tomorrow."

Smiling at the thought, Devon turned to his son. "I noticed you appeared alright out there—even with all the stress from the dragon appearing and the weather. Are you still feeling alright?" He couldn't help but be concerned for Cyrus, as he at times would hide any ailments he had just to make things less worrisome for those in the family.

Cyrus shrugged with a sideways smile. "Nothing happened," he admitted honestly. "I forgot I even had weak lungs."

Ruffling up his periwinkle colored hair, Devon felt a sense of relief he never thought he'd feel in awhile. He used to be up all night with his wife trying to get make sure Cyrus didn't suffocate from lack of appropriate air getting in and out of his body. "Alright, I should return shortly," he said to his family before grabbing up the tunic just to remind himself the color of blue it was.

Upon making it outside, Devon heard two of the mages on duty shouting for people to stand aside as a rider was making their way through the gates in a hurry. "Stand aside! Stand aside!" June, the white tiger Devon remembered when he first arrived, shouted to the students nearby to get them to move. "Make way for Lady Janelle-Li!"

Devon wasn't too certain who that was, but he watched as a female echidna rode by on her palomino mare. She was covered completely in the finest silk and cotton from the head down—the only thing visible for a brief moment was her blue eyes. Upon making it to the statue in the center of the courtyard, she dismounted quickly and hurried inside of the main building without a word to anybody.

Rushing up the spiral staircase, Janelle-Li removed the cloth, which covered a majority of her muzzle, so her words would carry better. "Father?" she called a bit eagerly, making it to his bedroom door to knock on the large, wooden doors. "Father, it's me—Janelle-Li!"

"Come in," Thunderhawk's voice responded from the other side. Upon hearing the door open, the elder looked over at his daughter from the alchemy table with a chuckle at her being so prompt. "How in the world did you manage to make it so quickly here from Dawnstar? I only sent you a letter a moment ago."

Janelle-Li frowned at seeing her father attempting to move from the table after all he had endured from that battle she heard about in town. "And my court will be happy to receive it, but I was already on my way here when I saw the beast back at Dawnstar. I saw the path it was taking, and I didn't want to risk you or your students being caught off guard with everything that's happened to Winterhold already, father." Making it over to the wounded Thunderhawk, she held onto his upper arms gently. "Now, please, lie down on the bed, and I will take a look at you."

It was hard to move at the moment as the pain felt as though it were getting worse, but Thunderhawk grit his teeth through it and did as his daughter asked. He hadn't bothered putting another shirt on, so Janelle-Li was able to see the burn mark upon his back all the way to the bed. Thunderhawk sighed. "I am surprised I didn't hear it coming a mile away, but this one just snuck up on me."

Looking at the mark, Janelle-Li noticed that it covered a good bit of his back. She inwardly flinched, not wishing to be vocal about how bad the wound looked. "Well, the good news is everyone came out of that alright," Janelle-Li admitted, as she motioned her hands about to conjure up her healing power before carefully pressing it against her father's injury. "Now, this might sting—."

Thunderhawk gripped the sides of his bed and threw his head back with a low growl at the sensation getting worse when it came to the burn being soothed. "Dammit, that hurts…!"

"Father, just relax best you can," Janelle-Li begged, keeping up her healing magic. "I know it hurts, but this burn will really start to get worse if it goes untreated." She could still see that her father was very tense from her trying to work her magic, making her attempt to put his mind elsewhere for a moment. "I know you all too well. You took this for someone else without a second thought." She teasingly smiled even if her father couldn't see. "Who is the lucky girl?"

Scoffing playfully at her comment through his pain, he shook his head best he could against the covers. "That 'lucky girl' is six-years-old," he chuckled before hissing once more at the tenderness flaring up again. "I-I promised the parents I would watch her, and she was so terrified," he stammered with a low growl, his lilac fur prickling at the discomfort he was in.

"She must really think you're something special with her clinging to your leg like that then," Janelle-Li pointed out with a smile, noticing her father was starting to relax a bit better.

Thunderhawk rolled his shoulders, but only partially so as the wound acted up again in the process of doing so. "She's just interested in the magic I do," he explained after expelling a low groan from causing his own injury to react from his shoulder movements. "Also, she is intent on being a healer because of the frail state her brother is—by the Goddess, will you stop doing that…!" He hated to snap at his daughter, but when she went to the center of the wound, it nearly crippled him with pain.

Janelle-Li let his gripe roll off her shoulders as her concern for his health was more important than getting offended over his tone of voice. "Her brother is in poor health?" she asked, tilting her head slightly while continuing to wait for her magic to settle the agony Thunderhawk was enduring from the frost burn. Hearing a small irritable whine erupt from his throat, she shushed him tenderly while continuing her actions.

"Weak lungs are what the boy has to my understanding," Thunderhawk commented through his clenched teeth. "His sister is determined to help him get better by learning healing magic, so I am trying to teach her. Since we're low on healers in Skyrim, I figured I would give it a try with her and see how long she's willing to go with it." Curling his toes, he gripped the bed once more. "Do we have to do this all in one sitting!" the guardian exclaimed.

Releasing the hold on her magic, Janelle-Li waited for her dad to relax. "I am sorry, father, but I just worry about letting this go on for too long. You really took a hit. I am surprised you are able to still walk around as you were." She moved the layered fabric about her arms to try and make herself a bit more comfortable as Winterhold had worse winters than Dawnstar. "I'll let you catch your breath."

"How bad does it look?" Thunderhawk asked, as he refused to turn over. Since the healing process had begun, he was a bit nervous to do any quick movements in worry the pain might strike him like a cobra hidden in the grass.

Taking another look at the wound, Janelle-Li had noticed part of his fur had crystallized from the dragon's frost breath and easily broken off to reveal the skin underneath. The skin was agitated and marked in a way to hint the coming of a nasty scar. "You may get a scar out of it," she told him. "Judging from how bad the injury was, I have a feeling parts of your fur might not grow back at all to conceal your battle wound."

"Great," Thunderhawk commented sarcastically, but he merely waved the mark away as he knew the outcome of that fight could have been far worse than him leaving with only a scar. "Well, I live, and that's all that matters. You really should head back to Dawnstar, Janelle-Li. While I enjoy your company, I am sure your village needs you."

"My Captain of the Guard is watching the village in my place for now," Janelle-Li said with a smile. "I am sure they can handle a few hours without me for the moment."

"Janelle-Li," Thunderhawk began in that fatherly tone, which indicated scolding. "If you'd just go to my alchemy display case, you'll see an ointment for frost burns. If you'll grab that and put it on bandages, I should be able to tough it out just fine," he instructed.

Giving her father a funny look out of the corner of her eye, she sighed at his stubbornness before excusing herself to do so. "You just don't want me to continue using my healing magic, you big baby, and here I thought you supported healers." She was merely teasing and was aware her tone was obvious in that regard.

With her back turned, Thunderhawk made an unimpressed 'ha, ha' expression before burying his forehead into his folded arms before him.

Doing as her father instructed, Janelle-Li wrapped up Thunderhawk's injury carefully to make sure the bandages sat perfectly upon the wound. "There. Better?" Janelle-Li asked, rubbing his right shoulder tenderly.

"It'll be tender for a day or two, no doubt, but it will at least heal," Thunderhawk responded from where he continued to rest on his front until Janelle-Li worked on helping him to at least sit upright on the bed for a moment. Upon looking at his daughter, he smiled his thanks before being verbal about it. "Thank you."

Noticing the marks on his chest as well, Janelle-Li sighed with a shake of her head. "Was there a part of your body the dragon _**didn't**_ hit?"

"You stay away from that!" Thunderhawk insisted with a wheezy chuckle. "It is just fine. I promise! I took a healing potion, and he merely grazed the surface of the skin, so I am sure I'll make it."

Rolling her eyes playfully at her father, Janelle-Li smiled at him all the same. "Alright, old man, I will leave you be," she teased, as she got to her feet.

"I thank you for helping me with the injury, 'old woman'," Thunderhawk commented in return as he was about to help escort her out when he found that moving was going to be a bit of a challenge that day. "Okay, never minder that idea," he grunted, as he kept himself situated there on the bedside. "I'll bother with moving, sleeping, and eating some other time."

Janelle-Li chuckled at her father as she leaned over to kiss his forehead. "Just rest on your sides or your front," she instructed. "I am sure I can inform your attendants to bring you food or help you bathe, since you never bother to talk to your servants."

"I never liked having them," the elder admitted, as she steadied his breathing when it came to the pain handicapping him. "Every time I think about having a dedicated servant, I can't stop thinking about your grandfather and…_**his**_." He turned his nose up at it, having to remember taking the long way around Sojourner's bedroom door, as he didn't like hearing his father sleeping with them.

"What we do with our servants is up to us," Janelle-Li reminded him, as she reached over and placed her hand upon his shoulder reassuringly. "If you want your servants to basically become your harem, that's up to you, but I will say that you need to get over mother's death sometime, daddy, and attempt to move on. That's what grandfather was trying to do regarding grandma."

Thunderhawk looked off to the side with a shake of his head. "You shouldn't worry about focusing on my love life, dear."

"No, apparently it's your health I should be worried with," Janelle-Li joked with a teasing grin. "Anyways, I'll tell your servants." Walking away from her father's bed, she could just hear him sighing irritably. "You can gripe at me in an angry letter later, I am sure. Goodbye for now, father, and be well."

With his bed mostly out of focus of his front door, he twisted his mouth to the side before shouting back at her: "I love you!" He wasn't sure when he'd get the chance to say that again, as he rarely got to visit his family members as often as he'd like.

"I love you too, dad," Janelle-Li called back before the door shut behind her.

"Wake up! Wake up!" Sara-Li called to her father excitedly, shaking him awake best she could from where he was trying to rest on the floor.

Since there was just the one bed, Devon gave it to his son and daughter while Jade-Li took the chair. Devon didn't mind taking the floor, especially once he found a decent deal on two handmade blankets and pillow for himself once he had gone into town yesterday to find the cloth Jade-Li had requested for Thunderhawk's shirt. Trailing his hand groggily to his face, he moved his messy, black hair from his line of sight with a sigh at being woken up so early. "What is it, sweetheart?" he yawned more so than asked.

"Mommy finished Thunderhawk's shirt! It looks pretty!" Sara-Li said, pointing to the chair that Devon couldn't really see from where he was resting not far from the bed.

Devon couldn't figure out what Sara-Li must have found so 'pretty' about the tunic he assumed was going to look the same as before. Sitting upright to curb his daughter's excitement a bit, he noticed that Jade-Li had added a pattern down the center of the tunic, making it a light blue color and a rather intricate, swirling design. His wife had obviously either neglected sleep to get it done or gotten up early to do so. "Gracious, Jade-Li, how long did it take you to do that? You weren't up all night with it, were you?"

Jade-Li wearily looked over at her husband with a soft smile. "It doesn't matter," she chuckled. "In the end, I got it done." Stifling a yawn against her hand, she folded up the fabric there in her lap with a bit of relief washing over her that she got it complete in time. "At least Sara-Li can take it with her today." Her tender smile turned into a bit of a worried frown, as she looked over at Cyrus, who was still sleeping. "Why don't you take Sara-Li to Lord Thunderhawk today? I think Cyrus should continue resting."

Devon could hear the obviousness in his wife's tone. Looking over at the bed where Cyrus lie, he expelled a worried sigh of his own before smiling down at his daughter. "Sara, why don't you go ahead and get ready to head to Lord Thunderhawk, okay? I need to get ready myself." He pointed towards the washroom that was not far from the bed "I put your clothes out for you in there. Go on, now," Devon encouraged, playfully patting her on the rump to get her going. Waiting for the door to shut behind his daughter, Devon turned his focus back to his wife. "Cyrus stopped breathing again?"

Reluctantly, Jade-Li nodded. "He started wheezing really badly, and I stayed up with him for awhile until it died back down. I gave him one of those potions Thunderhawk gave you, and it helped a bit, but it didn't seem to work as fast as I was hoping."

"It might be something that just needs to take some time to kick in, my love," Devon whispered back, hoping that the potion would be their salvation in a way. Messing up his already wild black hair, he sniffled back his sinuses before moving himself from the hard floor. "It shouldn't take me too long to take Sara to Lord Thunderhawk's room and come back." Kissing her cheek lovingly, he held her tightly in a protective manner. "I'll return as quickly as I can to help keep watch on him."

Upon Sara-Li getting ready and Devon able to do so himself, the two of them headed off to Thunderhawk's bedroom. "Is this it?" Devon asked, as he had never been to the guardian's bedchambers before.

Sara-Li nodded feverishly at the large, double doors her father was gesturing towards.

Knocking on one of the doors with his knuckles, he called to the elder. "Lord Thunderhawk?" Devon leaned against the door a bit, wondering if the guardian would feel alright in regards to seeing his daughter for the day. The sound of someone heading towards the entrance, Devon pulled back from the door to witness as a middle-aged echidna answered his call.

Her violate eyes shifted from Sara-Li to her father with a tilt of her head. "Can I help you?" she asked, moving her wavy, brunette hair out of her way.

"Who are you?" Sara-Li asked boldly, not sure where this new female face was coming from.

"It's alright, Lily-An," Thunderhawk's voice called from where he was sitting at this desk. "That's the young lady I was telling you I was waiting for." Removing his reading glasses from his muzzle, the guardian folded them upon the wooden surface of his desk once he found a stopping place in his papers.

Devon ushered his daughter inside of the room when the woman allowed them to enter. He, like his kids before, was surprised to see how large Thunderhawk's room was but a part of him expected it given the man's title. Noticing the rather stiff way the elder was sitting, Devon tilted his head a bit in concern. "My Lord? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Devon," Thunderhawk insisted, turning around best he could in his chair with a slight grunt. "My daughter had patched me up—rather roughly—but I should be just fine. I just need to take it easy. I am sure doing a reading and writing session isn't going to pull my back out or anything," he teased.

"Are you sure about this?" Devon asked, as he was willing to postpone the lessons if it meant the guardian getting better. "If you need to rest—."

"I already have Lily-An to gripe at me to do such things, Devon," Thunderhawk was quick to say with a shake of his head. "That, and I do have my daughter as well, who has been persistent lately with letters." With a simple gesture of his hand, he made one of them disappear in a puff of green magic, sending it to his collection of letters by her. "I'll be fine; besides, judging by the stress in your eyes, I say you have something else to focus on for a moment. You can do that while I tend to this," he insisted, getting his letters and legal papers in order before moving them to the nearby shelf to give Sara-Li a bit more space when she ventured over to the desk.

Expelling a sigh of relief, Devon nodded. "Alright, I appreciate it, your majesty."

Thunderhawk watched as Devon took his leave. Waiting for him to be obviously out of earshot, he nodded at his servant. "Lily-An, you can go as well," he said, grabbing back onto his reading glasses to look at the spines of the books he had not far from his working space.

"But, my Lord, I—!"

"Go, please," Thunderhawk ordered a bit more sternly this time as he gestured towards the door with his back turned.

Sara-Li watched as the servant woman reluctantly left the two alone, making her bring the book, as well as Thunderhawk's shirt, closer to her body. "You're not mad, are you?" She could easily tell how frustrated he seemed with everyone doting on him, making her wonder if he was alright.

Thunderhawk pulled another healing book from his collection before smiling down at Sara-Li. "No, of course not," he responded, though partially lying in the process. He was honestly getting a bit tired about everyone jumping on him about his health when he had endured worse. "Besides, at least this way, we get to be alone for a moment. With my servant here, she would have constantly been interrupting me, and that can be bothersome." Noticing the folded up fabric upon her book, he smiled down at her. "Is that mine?"

"Hu?" Sara-Li looked down at his tunic, forgetting that it was there. "Oh yeah! My mommy finally finished it this morning!" She unfolded it and showed it off to the guardian. "My mommy put the new whirly things on it! I think you might like it!"

Looking at the new design upon his outfit, Thunderhawk smiled to himself. "Be sure to tell your mother I like it. I would change into it but, I am afraid my movements are a bit limited." He couldn't help but inwardly growl about it a bit.

"I'm sorry," Sara-Li whispered with a somber look upon her violet eyes. "You got hurt because of me, didn't you?"

Seeing the sorrow in her eyes, Thunderhawk managed a reassuring smile at her to replace his prior frown. "I promised you that I would protect you since you arrived, and I intend to keep that promise no matter what it does to me." Fondling his brown beard, he hummed in thought. "Matter of fact, why don't we take this lesson outside? I need to move around to get used to this wound, and it would do us both some good to get some fresh air for a moment."

Seeing nothing wrong with it, Sara-Li nodded excitedly at his suggestion.

The snow wasn't falling too hard that morning, and the warm, welcoming sun was cooling the constantly cold area. While it hurt to walk around, Thunderhawk knew it was better than just lying down all day and night. "So tell me, dear," began the guardian, his arms folded behind him, "what have you learned about magic in general?"

"It's a mind thing," Sara-Li answered, since she couldn't say the word 'mental' well at her age. "You think on what you want, and it becomes what you're thinking." Since she never got the chance to play in the snow much, she couldn't help but jump about in it with a giggle, loving the crunching sound that it made underneath her feet.

"And?" Thunderhawk pried, keeping a close watch on her.

Seeing a small flower surviving the winter weather, Sara-Li inhaled excitedly as she hurried over to it before catching the guardian's words. "Umm…it is also…for-form-la based?"

Chuckling at her attempt to say 'formula', Thunderhawk slowly knelt down to the iris flower she was eyeing to pluck it from the earth to give to her. "Yes, it's 'form-u-la' based. What that means is you have to write down that formula to create a spell. Once you have it memorized, it will be all too easy to conjure up the spell you're thinking of."

Giggling at the flower being presented to her, Sara-Li took it excitedly before hearing him talk about formulas. "But…that's a lot of things to remember, right? Formulas are made of…of…" She forgot the word already, as it wasn't one she used often.

"Runes?" Thunderhawk asked. Seeing her nod, he continued: "It's not as hard as it sounds, Sara-Li. Even so, that's why some mages carry around a book of spells with them. When we don't remember new spells right away, a tome is usually carried, so that we can recall them easily when the time comes for them." He smiled at her curious look. "That's where a page finding spell may be useful to ya—." Pausing in his words, the elder's blue eyes stared off to the right of the village to notice something in the snow.

"Thunderhawk…?" Sara-Li pried, as she could see a rather serious look on his face.

"Stay close to me," he whispered, as he noticed that, what was in the snow was a small body of some sort. Not recognizing the figure as one of his citizens, he was nervous that some poor soul had gotten killed on the way to Winterhold and that the beast was still nearby. However, upon getting close enough, Thunderhawk saw that it was a small boy about Sara-Li's age, if not maybe older. "Oh, by Aurora…!" he exclaimed, running over to the child to cradle him in his arms. Thunderhawk ignored the pain shooting through his body as he did, worried for the maroon furred child with hair that matched the snow.

The look on the boy's face was enough to make Thunderhawk worry he had died from the harsh weather. His heart squeezed for a moment as he worked on trying to rouse the child if he were just sleeping. "Come on, now…wake up!" he pleaded, getting no response at first until finally the boy stirred with a low moan. Feeling his heart do flips, Thunderhawk quickly unhooked his cape and wrapped the child within it. "Stay with me, son! You're safe! I'll take you back to Winterhold College!"


	4. Chapter 4

**_Author's Notes_**: Baltheer and Ivan are copywrite to me. XD I didn't expect to add these two in here..but there they are.

* * *

Sara-Li became interested in the young boy that Thunderhawk had pulled from the snowy terrain about Winterhold. Since Thunderhawk saw no harm in her being there for the rest of the day, he allowed Sara-Li to stay as he worked on trying to warm the nameless child. Hearing the knock on his door, Thunderhawk excused himself from the bedside to hurry to answer it. Seeing his servant standing there, he expelled a sigh of relief. "Did you bring them?" he asked hastily.

"I brought all the towels I could find with a bowl of cold water," Lily-An said, her breath labored from her hurrying about the college to grab what she could. With the jarl taking the items she brought, she attempted to step into his bedroom, but saw him about to shut the door. "D-Do you need my help, your highness?"

"I appreciate the offer, Lily-An, but it's just one little boy," Thunderhawk replied. "I should be alright. If his health takes a turn for the worse, I'll be sure to bring in my high priest." With that said he shut the door finally and hurried back towards the young child lying in his bed. Placing the bowel of water down on the wooden nightstand nearby, Thunderhawk dampened one of the towels before using it to dab away at the growing fever.

Sara-Li noticed the boy continuing to shiver, making her brow wrinkle in worry. "Is he going to be okay?"

"Well, judging by the thickness of his fur and his white hair, he is a winter echidna," Thunderhawk said to the young Sara-Li, as he grabbed the other towels to try and wrap the shivering child within them tightly. "I'd say the only reason he didn't die out there is because of what his parent's blessed him with." Thinking on the young boy's parents, he couldn't help but hope and pray they were alright.

"Should I try my healing magic on him?" Sara-Li asked eagerly, wanting to try what she had learned thus far.

"You haven't even begun casting yet," Thunderhawk said with a light chuckle, reaching for the child on the bed to hold him tightly in his arms—hoping that the warmth emitted from his belly would help stabilize the boy.

"I learned this!" Sara-Li opened her tiny hands and begun to form a small ball of energy.

Thunderhawk's blue eyes widened at the sight of her casting something so soon. "Where did you learn that?" he asked, a bit more surprised than anything.

"Well, my brother was having a hard time breathing last night, and I put my hands on him like this—," Sara-Li said, placing her palms onto the small child's body. "—and then I wished that I had the power to help him calm down, and help him feel better. It worked for a little bit, but it didn't last long…My mom woke up after I tried, and she gave him that potion you gave my dad." With her hands already on the maroon furred echidna, she bit at her lower lip to try and concentrate on bringing the magic back and soothing him.

Merely watching, Thunderhawk allowed Sara-Li to give it a try as he kept a close eye on the child's reaction. He could feel the male echidna move slightly under the healing affects of the spell. As Sara-Li continued best she could, Thunderhawk noticed it was starting to wear her out as she wasn't used to going extended periods with casting. Reaching for Sara, he placed his hand tenderly upon her wrists to break her concentration. "It's alright, Sara-Li. You did your best, and I am sure, thanks to your help, he will awaken in no time."

Smiling through her weariness at his words, she looked back at the boy in Thunderhawk's arms. "Do you think he'll wake up today?" Admittedly, she was a bit curious about where the nameless echidna had come from and why he was out in the dreadful weather like that.

Chuckling at her curious questions, Thunderhawk shook his head. "Honestly, my dear, I do not know. All we can do is keep a close watch on him and make sure he's comfortable." Realizing the time, the jarl sighed softly at reminding himself that he was hungry. "Sara-Li, can I ask a big favor of you?" Seeing her nod, Thunderhawk smiled. "Can I ask you to watch over him for a bit while I quickly run downstairs and grab some food for us? I would just use my own food that I keep stored away up here, but I've run out and need to fetch some more from the chef."

Sara-Li crossed her arms upon the open space on the bed with an eager nod. "I can watch him for you!"

"I knew I could count on you," said Thunderhawk, as he put the boy down under the bedcovers. He made sure that the covers were wrapped tightly about him, so that the young echidna couldn't fall off of his bed. "Now, keep a close watch on him. I shouldn't be long." With that said, the guardian quickly hurried to fetch food for everyone—including the unconscious child.

Hearing the door close, Sara-Li kept her focus on the child with a curious tilt of her head. "I wish I knew your name," Sara said to herself, as she reached over to move his wild, white hair. "You look like your name might by Clayton, or Oliver…or Luke!" Sara-Li kept guessing, her tail swaying back and forth in thought. Seeing the boy start to move with an added low groan emitting from his muzzle, Sara-Li straightened up as she wondered if he'd actually wake up. "Hey!" she called, reaching over to place her hand on his forehead. "Are you awake?"

The words were slurred and everything was very foggy when the child managed to open his eyes to the room about him. He thought he even heard a door open a close for a moment as he worked on trying to focus in on his surroundings.

"Thunderhawk!" Sara-Li called, when she realized the guardian was back. "He's waking up!"

Hurrying back over to his bed, Thunderhawk put the food items down on the desk along the way. Seeing the icy-blue eyes of the boy open and soon latch onto him, the ruler knelt down to his eyelevel with a relieved sigh. "Son, can you hear me?" Thunderhawk noticed the slightly glossy look and was a bit concerned. "Nod if you can hear me."

When the words started to make sense, the boy steadily nodded though still a bit unable to find his own voice for the time being. He was confused as to what had happened in the past few days. Everything had become such a blur.

Since he had removed his gauntlets earlier, Thunderhawk reached for the child's neck gently and pressed his index and middle fingers on either side of it to try and sooth his throat if that was the cause for him not speaking. "Can you speak?"

Opening his mouth, the boy struggled for a second as the cold really numbed his throat until he felt the heat starting to work away at the numbness. "I…I…think…so…kind of…hurts…" Just getting those words out, the boy flinched with a whimper.

"What is your name?" Thunderhawk asked, as that was the only question he really needed answered right away.

"…Troy," he answered, letting Thunderhawk work away at his weary body.

"Alright, Troy, just relax," the guardian instructed. "If your throat is still bothering you, I can go grab an herbal tea for you to drink."

Troy wearily shook his head, trying to squirm out of Thunderhawk's touch as he felt he was fine and didn't need to be doted on. When the guardian let go of his throat, his icy-blue eyes drifted over towards the other face in the room: Sara-Li. He continued to look into her violet eyes, wondering if she was the man's daughter.

"Alright, grumpy," Thunderhawk teased, releasing Troy's throat. Noticing his eyes upon Sara-Li, he placed his hand on top of the girl's periwinkle hair. "This is Sara-Li. I am teaching her healing magic, so that's why she's here." Placing his hand on his chest, he introduced himself. "I am Thunderhawk. I am one of the guardians who rule over Skyrim."

Hearing Thunderhawk introduce himself, Troy's eyes shifted quickly up to the mark he had missed earlier as it kept hiding on and off behind the clothes the guardian was wearing. "I'm in…Winterhold then…?" Troy had heard of Thunderhawk since his own sleepy village was within the area, but it wasn't exactly next door, so he was unaware what Thunderhawk looked like.

"Yes, you're safe now," Sara-Li said with relief, placing her palms upon the bedcovers to get a bit closer to Troy. "Why were you out in the cold anyways?"

Troy felt his fur prickle a bit at the question. Since it was such a sensitive topic, he recoiled away from the question and looked away from the curious gaze of Sara-Li.

Noticing Troy's reaction, Thunderhawk brushed the question to the side. "Anyways, are you hungry? Do you think you could manage some food?" Seeing a faint nod, the guardian turned away from the bed to retrieve the small bundle of rations he had brought in earlier. "Sara-Li, come with me." Since Thunderhawk had a desk not far from the bed, he gestured for her to sit down as he begun to sort through the sack. "Is there anything in particular you want, Sara?"

Looking at what he had brought, Sara-Li pointed to the bread, the cheese, and one of the apples. "Those, please," she said with a smile.

After handing over the food to Sara-Li, he bundled up the rest and moved it a bit closer to the bed for Troy. Troy noticed that the guardian was trying to hide his pain in something. He would have asked what was wrong, but he didn't feel too comfortable in prying. "I wasn't able to grab anything hot, as I wasn't sure when you'd be waking up. If you feel more comfortable with soup, I can certainly head back downstairs and get the chef to make some?"

Since Troy could see that moving was painful to Thunderhawk, he shook his head at the idea. Seeing the bread, he pointed to that from where he remained on the bed before eyeing the grapes and onions amidst the bundle of food items. He was so hungry that he was willing to eat anything at that moment, no matter what it was.

Seeing him point to the onions, Thunderhawk raised his bushy, brown brow. "Really? I've not known many kids to enjoy onions."

"I'm just hungry," Troy admitted softly.

Thunderhawk sorted the items on a plate before making it over towards the bedside to sit close to Troy. Cupping the back of Troy's head, he helped him sit up a bit, so he could help the boy eat better. Breaking off the bread, Thunderhawk offered it to Troy only to watch in slight panic as Troy tried to just inhale it. "Whoa, whoa, slow down!" When Troy didn't listen to him, Thunderhawk pulled the bread away while gently trying to close his muzzle. "If you eat like that, you're going to make yourself sick, son."

Troy growled lowly at having someone's hand on his muzzle—something his father used to do to him whenever he was bad.

Releasing Troy's mouth, he kept the bread away from him for the time being. "Now, eat _**slowly**_. The bread's not going to run away," he lightly teased, allowing Troy to take the bread once more and slowly work away at it.

With Troy still recuperating, Thunderhawk kept the lessons with Sara-Li closer to the bed in the back of the room. He had the hardest time trying to keep her focus, however, as she kept latching her attention onto Troy, who ended up falling asleep later on after eating. Closing the book he was reading to Sara-Li for the tenth time, Thunderhawk chuckled with a shake of his head. "I am not going to get you to concentrate with him here, am I? And here I thought you were too young to like boys."

Sara-Li made a 'bleh' face at his comment, recoiling at the thought of being romantic with a guy. "I am just hoping he's okay," she said in her defense.

Smiling at her comment, he shook his head. "You'll make a great healer yet." The knock at his door catching his attention, Thunderhawk patted Sara-Li's back gently. "That's probably your mom or dad." As he got up to help Sara to the door, he noticed her violet eyes back on Troy again. "Sara-Li, he's going to be fine," he assured her, bending down to pick her up into his arms.

"But he won't talk about his family," Sara-Li pointed out, as Thunderhawk headed for his door. "What's going to happen to him…? Where will he live?"

"I assure you, Sara, I will think of something," said Thunderhawk as he opened the door to find Devon there. "Sorry about not taking her to you, Devon," the guardian apologized, as he handed over Sara-Li. "I would have gotten her to you sooner but there was a boy that I found about Winterhold who required my attention."

"Is he alright?" Devon asked, as he accepted his daughter in his arms.

"He appears to be alright." Thunderhawk looked over his shoulder at where his bed was hidden by the partial wall, which separated his garden from his bedroom. "He's resting for now, and I sent for my high priest, Baltheer, so I can make extra sure that he's okay when that man manages to make his way to me."

Thinking back on Cyrus, Devon looked at his daughter, who he lowered down to her own feet. "Sara-Li, can you wait out here for a moment?" Seeing his daughter nod, he gently tapped her nose. "Don't move, okay? I need to talk to Lord Thunderhawk in private for a second."

Thunderhawk could tell, whatever it was, had to be serious, so he didn't decline the notion. Stepping to the side, he allowed Devon in his room. "Is something wrong with your son?" Thunderhawk asked, as he knew that could be the only reason the man could possibly be upset.

Devon shook away his surprise at the comment. "Okay, your highness, I know you've known me for a few days now, but it's really creepy how you instantly know what's bothering me; especially, when you have hundreds or even thousands of other people to concern yourself with."

"1,056 people, actually," Thunderhawk answered with a brief chuckle, his hands moving to his hips. "I lost half of that during The Great Divide when the surrounding homes about Winterhold College fell into the ocean." Seeing the still surprised look on Devon's face, Thunderhawk shrugged his shoulders like it was nothing. "Being a ruler, I want to at least know my people—especially after such a horrible loss."

"Anyway, my Lord," began Devon again, "that potion you gave me seems to only subside Cyrus' breathing issues for a little bit. He's still having difficulty breathing."

Fondling his beard in thought, Thunderhawk headed back to his alchemy table to shift through his papers regarding formulas he had mastered in his spare time as well as some he had traded off to his family members. Finding the one that he had given to Devon, he looked over what he had put in the formula to remind himself the doses of the ingredients. "I can try and see if I can't make the potion stronger," said Thunderhawk, as he put the paper down on his desk to remind himself to tamper with it later. "If that fails, I'll send Baltheer out to you."

"Thank you, my Lord," praised Devon. "I didn't mean to trouble you, but I worry for him."

"As any parent should for their children," said Thunderhawk with a smile. "Also, you can just call me 'Thunderhawk', Devon, I don't have a problem with that."

Devon was a bit caught off guard by the request, as he couldn't imagine talking to royalty in such a manner even if Thunderhawk was telling him it would be alright if he did so. "Oh, well…thank you, Thunderhawk."

Thunderhawk nodded in response with a smile, watching as Devon exited his bedroom to pick up his daughter and head back to his family. Alone once again, he almost forgot that he had Troy in his bed for a brief moment until he saw the small child looking up at him when he ventured into that part of his room. "Ah, you're awake. How do you feel?" he asked, as he grabbed one of his chairs to bring it closer to the bedside.

"I'm thirsty," Troy answered, his fist balling up close to his mouth as if he was ashamed to ask for help.

"Are you still hungry?" Thunderhawk asked, as he attempted to rise from the chair to go back to his chef. "I am not sure how long you've been without food or water since you refuse to tell me what caused you to be separated from your family."

Troy's eyes quickly looked away from Thunderhawk before having the courage to look at him once more. "I am hungry…I think I was three days without food…?" Troy honestly wasn't sure. He knew his village wasn't right around the corner, but it was close enough to Winterhold. "I tried to drink the water that I could find, but it was too cold, and it felt like it was burning my throat…"

"You're lucky," Thunderhawk said with a stern look at the boy. "With how cold the water gets around here, it could have damaged your throat on top of you inhaling the cold air, and then you'd be in trouble. I'll get you something warm to eat and drink. It might help sooth your throat a bit more."

Since he was still nervous about leaving Troy alone, even for a moment, Thunderhawk hurried as quickly as he could down to the kitchen. Opening the door leading into the kitchen, Thunderhawk looked through the servants helping with the food to finally find his chef. Waving down the polar bear (who was hard to miss), Thunderhawk quickly made it to his side. "Ivan! I need a favor!"

Playfully scoffing at Thunderhawk's words, Ivan continued to hurry about the kitchen to make sure dinner preparations were going well. "There's no such thing as a 'favor' from you, your highness," he teased though seriousness was underlining his words. Grabbing the ingredients he needed for the meals he had in mind, Ivan stopped briefly as he looked at his rack lined with different cutting knives. "What do you need? Is it for that boy of yours?" Ivan asked as he fixed his apron, which never seemed to hang right for him given his round belly.

"He's awake now," Thunderhawk explained, keeping out of Ivan's way, as he knew if he stopped the bear from his duties, the man would get agitated with him being the passionate cook that he was. Seeing the herbal teas he had stocked on his shelf, Thunderhawk reached for one. "I was wondering if you could make a soup for him while I get the herbal tea—_**Ouch!**_" he exclaimed, jerking his hand back when Ivan slapped it away.

"You do not touch my food, my Lord, unless it is prepared by me!" Ivan insisted sternly, waving his spoon at the guardian. "_**I**_ will be the one to get it ready for the young boy."

"It is just tea…" Thunderhawk commented with a raise of his brow, rubbing the back of his hand.

"I do not pretend to tell you how to rule, so do not pretend to tell me you know how to cook as well as I do!" Ivan seemed to scold, but after a moment of looking irritably at the ruler, his face relaxed and he started laughing at Thunderhawk. "Besides, nobody can prepare my teas quite like I can." Here, he winked at the elder before waving him away. "Now, get out of my kitchen while I get things ready! I will send one of my cooks to your room with the soup and tea."

Before Thunderhawk knew what was going on, he soon realized that he was practically being urged out the door. "But—."

"Shoo, shoo!" Ivan said with a furious wave of his hands still. "You must not stop a masterpiece when it's already in motion, and I know I don't want your dirty hands all over it either," he teased still.

Thunderhawk merely rolled his eyes as he was used to Ivan's comments by now. There was something about the bear's straightforward attitude that he enjoyed from the moment he set foot onto Winterhold soil to insist on becoming the head chef for him. He also trusted the bear more than anybody. Since he was so particular about his food, he tasted everything to make sure there was nothing off about the taste, and also made sure that no poisons made it to Thunderhawk or his royal court.

Upon making it back to his bedroom, he saw that Troy was attempting to read the book of casting that he had lain out near the nightstand. "Interested in magic, are you?"

Troy looked up at the elder before closing the book slowly. "Sort of," he answered. "I learned how to cast lightning magic, but…I've not been really into it."

"Is that why you've escaped to here?" Thunderhawk asked, as he was interested in getting to know the child better.

Narrowing his eyes at the guardian, Troy shook his head. "No, and Winterhold wasn't my destination anyways…I was just leaving home…"

Thunderhawk could tell that trying to get Troy to open up was going to be difficult, so he dodged the subject for now. "So how old are you?" he asked, rubbing his palms together in thought.

Troy's irritably look worsened. "Why does it matter?"

"Because I am curious."

"Who I am is none of your business," Troy retorted quickly in defense.

"I saved your life," Thunderhawk said as quickly in return with his tone remaining neutral, "so I do believe I should be owed some information about you."

"I am six," Troy groaned, looking away from Thunderhawk, as he couldn't stand the gaze the guardian was giving him.

"That wasn't so hard now, was it?" Thunderhawk pulled his attention from Troy when he heard a knock at his door. "One moment." Slowly getting to his feet, he made it to the door to accept the soup and tea from the cook that Ivan had sent. Upon making his way back to the young boy, he found himself in the 'hot seat'.

"What's wrong with your back? You're not that old, are you?" Troy was being bitter in his question, but he was curious why the ruler walked around rather slowly and in a stiff manner.

Thunderhawk moved the bowl of tomato soup into his hands carefully. "Ah, you've got old jokes, do you? I hate to kill the punch line, but, no, it was an ice dragon attack." He motioned for Troy to move a bit closer, so that he could help him eat since the boy was acting a bit weak. "Sara-Li was in my arms when a dragon managed to catch me by surprise. I didn't have enough time to react with her there, so I used my cape to try and block a majority of the attack, but I still took part of the hit. This soup is still a bit hot, so be careful. I would blow on it for you, but seeing as you don't need my help, I will allow you to do that."

Catching the sarcasm in the elder's voice as well as the minor pain, Troy sighed with a slight shake of his head. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I'm just upset…" Remembering the raging fire in the back of his mind, he swallowed harshly and shook away his worry best he could when it came to his family.

"You'll like the soup," Thunderhawk said, hoping to relax Troy and change the subject. "Ivan uses his own tomatoes he grows in the garden he keeps under lock and key in the back of the kitchen. There's also a bit of onion in there. You might like it better without it being whole and raw. It adds a good bit of flavor to it next to some spice he added in there as well. The man never tells me his secrets." When Troy appeared ready, Thunderhawk moved the spoon closer to his mouth.

Troy had never had food prepared by royal chefs before, so the flavor added to something that used to taste so simple to him in the past made him pause for a second to take in the texture of it.

Thunderhawk knew Troy wasn't going to compliment about the taste, so he merely chuckled at his reaction. "Ivan apparently left bread for you to have as well. He always insists that you dip part of the bread into the soup to give more flavor to the bread." Looking back at the herbal tea Ivan had made as well, he shifted gears and offered that to Troy next. "He made these herbal teas himself as well. He adds honey and, I think I once saw him, add a type of cinnamon to it."

"You cook yourself," Troy said, noticing that Thunderhawk seemed intent to eyeball his royal chef on occasion.

"I dabble," Thunderhawk corrected, as he continued to help Troy with his meal. "I used to do a lot of cooking before and after my daughter was born, but since I am focusing on trying to rebuild Winterhold and keep everything under control, I've lacked the time to really focus on such a skill."

Troy was quiet, unsure of what else to say until he realized he was staying in the Winterhold College where the jarl lived. "What's going to happen to me?"

Thunderhawk rolled his shoulders. "That depends on a few things. Do you plan on going back home?" Seeing Troy dodge the comment once more, he knew that had to be a nonverbal 'no'. "For the time being, then, I will watch over you. I am sure I'll find a purpose for you once you are well."

While a bit offended over Thunderhawk's choice of words, Troy knew that he had better count his blessings he didn't die out there in the blizzard that caught him. As he fiddled with the bread in his fingers, he looked away from the guardian as he mumbled a 'thank you'; being a bit too prideful to actually say it to Thunderhawk's face.


	5. Chapter 5

**_Author's Notes_**: If it hadn't been for me installing Steam and making a twitter, and tumblr account, I am sure I would have had this up by now... xD; Anyways, enjoy!

* * *

Troy found himself sleeping less and less the more he realized that he was getting his strength back. While Thunderhawk was kind enough to let Troy stay there in his bedroom, Troy couldn't help but wonder how longer it would be till he was kicked out or put in some other stranger's bedchambers. Usually at odds with the leader, Troy still appreciated everything that Thunderhawk had done for him in the past week. When the floorboards had stopped creaking under the guardian's bodyweight later that evening, Troy knew that Thunderhawk had possibly passed out on the cot he had lain out on the floor near his alchemy table.

With the words of the elder ringing still in his mind about how Thunderhawk would find a use for him still, Troy sighed and removed the covers from his body to make it slowly to his bare, padded feet. Tiptoeing from behind the partial cobblestone wall, which obscured his view from the lilac echidna, Troy eventually saw the elder resting there on the cot, sure enough, with a few spell books sprawled out across the floor. The young boy was relieved that Thunderhawk was such a loud snorer that it didn't make him too nervous about being caught trying to sneak out of the room and get a better look about the college.

Troy never realized how quiet and vast the college seemed at the late hours of the night. He would see the occasional student pass him by, but they were so buried into their studies that they didn't seem to take notice of the young boy. His nostrils flaring at the smell of food not far away, Troy's stomach was quick to remind him that he had missed dinner that day, as he got in a fight with Thunderhawk and refused to eat afterwards. Pulling the baggy shirt he was offered earlier tighter about his body, he hurried towards the smell to eventually find his way to the royal kitchen.

The door moaned on its hinges as Troy pushed it slowly open to reveal the kitchen's interior a bit better. "Hello…?" he called, as he noticed there was something boiling in the pot behind the nearby counter, but nobody appeared to be in the area. _Maybe they're all asleep_, Troy thought as he tiptoed up to the large cauldron he could see there in the room boiling over a fire. Getting a better look into the black cauldron, he saw, what appeared to be, an attempt to make vegetable soup. "But who would go to sleep when they have food cooking?"

Looking about the empty kitchen, Troy found a wooden spoon upon the counter that he saw was clean so he could dip it into the broth to at least have a taste of it. His maroon fur prickling, Troy gagged at how bland it tasted to him. _It needs something else_, he thought through his minor hacking as he put the spoon back where he had found it to think on what it could use. Moving through the containers of vegetables, spices, and herbs, Troy came across something that had been labeled 'black pepper'. He hadn't seen it much at his own village, so he poured a little bit of it on his palm to taste it. "That might work," the boy muttered to himself as he made his way over towards the pot to grind some of it into the soup that was there.

Upon taking another sip, Troy hummed in disappointment still as he didn't feel the soup was adequate even for his empty stomach. "Still missing something," he mumbled, thinking on what it could use as his icy-blue eyes scanned the nearby counter once more lined with foods. "Onions!" Troy said excitedly as he hurried over to grab one. Just as he was about to place his fingers about the onion, he heard something cut through the air and heading for him, but before Troy could react, he found his grabby hand aching with pain when a wooden spoon smacked him harshly and with purpose. "_**Ouch!**_" he whined, pulling back his injured hand to hold close to his chest.

Ivan was quick to grab the onion that moved just an inch from its spot to put it right back where it originally was. "Who the hell do you think _**you are**_ to try and take _**my food**_ without my permission!" the polar bear growled disapprovingly as he crossed his arms above his round belly.

"I-I wasn't stealing anything! I swear!" Troy said in his defense, trying to back away from the towering figure. "I was just hungry, and I stumbled into the kitchen!"

"How did a small boy like you make it into the college at this hour anyways? Where are your parents?" Ivan demanded to know as he leaned forwards to eye the child better.

"I'm staying with Thunderhawk!" He saw Ivan's expression soften slightly, but not enough to keep the boy from cowering. "I was just trying to find something to eat, and I saw the vegetable soup there, so I was preparing it more—!"

"I don't give a damn who you are," Ivan interjected quickly as he pointed the kitchen utensil back at Troy. "You don't come into my kitchen and start to mess with my food!" Turning his attention back to the vegetable soup, the bear took a sip of it to find that another ingredient was added when his back was turned. When his blue eyes fell back upon Troy, he looked agitated at first but his tone suggested otherwise when he spoke. "What did you add to this?"

"I just added that black pepper, and I was about to add the onions when you stopped me," Troy admitted nervously, keeping his distance just in case Ivan wanted to smack him again.

Relaxing his stance a bit, Ivan twisted his mouth to the side in thought. "You're the boy who Thunderhawk keeps finding an excuse to bug me about when it comes to more food, aren't you? Troy, was it?" Kneeling down to the young boy's level, he rested his arms on his thighs to show Troy he wasn't going to slap him again. "That old coot has been muttering to me about what to do with you. How old are you?"

"I'm six…" Troy answered, still rubbing his sore hand.

"Six?" Ivan repeated, as if he wasn't sure of the answer before laughing at the age. "Six! You are six-years-old, and you can manage to put two ingredients into my soup to make it better whereas men and women twice your age fail at that!"

The laughter, though seeming a bit sarcastic to Troy, relaxed the boy a bit as it made Ivan appear a bit jollier. "I didn't think what I was doing was anything special. I like onions by themselves, but I know Thunderhawk told me they add more flavor to things, so I added it when I tasted the black pepper."

Ivan's round belly shook as he continued laughing a bit at Troy's choice of words. "You have a gift, boy! You have the ability to know how to make food taste better, and you don't bother to use it to help Lord Thunderhawk for all that he has done for you?"

"That's not all I can do," Troy said irritably, as if offended by Ivan's comments.

Ivan scoffed as he inched the spoon closer to the boy to move his sleeve up a bit more to reveal the jagged scar upon his upper arm that he saw earlier. He recognized the mark as a scar anybody could get from fighting a lightning mage or being a novice one themselves. "So you can—and poorly at that."

Pulling away from Ivan, Troy growled at the statement. "I don't need teachers! I am fine by learning on my own!"

"Relax, boy," Ivan insisted with a narrowing of his eyes. "I could care less if you want to zap your fur off in your spare time. What I am talking about here and now is the fact that you can actually cook, and quite well for your age."

Troy shrugged his shoulders, as if what he had done previously was nothing. "So…?"

Pointing the wooden spoon at Troy, Ivan watched as the young boy jumped back out of reflex. "If you want to come into my kitchen and make food, then I will allow it but under one condition: I am in this kitchen. If you try to mess with my food without me again, I will string you up by your tail!"

Troy didn't see what was so great about cooking, but Thunderhawk did mention that he had to earn his stay. While he knew how to cast magic, he didn't want it to be doted on and forced into classes with a bunch of old geezers claiming they know what is best for him. Still quite hungry, Troy fidgeted with the idea of what to do food wise. "So, umm… can I eat the soup after I add the onion into it…?"

Smacking the nearby wooden surface to discourage Troy from attempting to reach out to take another sip of the broth, Ivan shook his head. "No, we don't eat the food prepared for the Royal Court!" Putting the ladle off to the side, Ivan motioned for Troy to follow him to the back of the kitchen. "Come with me."

Upon following the bear, he noticed a locked door there in the back corner. _This must be the room Thunderhawk mentioned_, Troy thought, remembering Ivan kept his freshly grown items under lock and key.

Opening the door, Ivan stood at the side to nod for Troy to go on ahead and look inside if he wanted to. The maroon furred echidna hesitated at first until finally finding the courage to step towards. Moving through the archway of the door, Troy was greeted with an arrangement of foods. It looked like he had stepped into the woodlands for a moment, and he could have tricked himself into believing so if it hadn't been for the stone ceiling and walls. "Wow," he whispered to himself, as his fingers reached out to touch one of the tomato plants but stopped when he thought Ivan might whack him again. His wide, curious eyes looking up at the round bear, Troy made sure to get the chef's approval before finally grabbing up a fresh tomato in his hand to have a bite.

"I don't usually let people in here," Ivan pointed out, as he closed the door behind him. "However, seeing as you're quite talented for one your age, I think I will allow the exception."

"Yeah, Thunderhawk told me about this room, but I didn't think I'd get to see it," Troy admitted, his voice sounding a bit bitter at just saying the jarl's name.

Ivan couldn't help but laugh. "He has annoyed you. I can sense it in your voice." Moving to a nearby chair, he moved his tainted apron out of his way as he sat down to relax his feet. "What has that old man done now?"

"He's always being so nosey," Troy grumbled as he took another bite out of the tomato, wiping the juice from his mouth with the back of his hand. "Did he ever think that I ran away for a reason?"

"That's Lord Thunderhawk trying to be nice and show that he cares." Ivan said it in such a way that it almost sounded like he was being condescending to the young boy. "If he didn't care what happened to your ass, he would have tossed you back out in the snow and told you to mind the dragons on your way to wherever it was you came from or were headed to before the cold got the better of you."

Troy scoffed. More than anything he wanted to forget why he ran away and forget everything he could about his past life. A part of him felt that if he had died out there, it wouldn't have been a horrible alternative for him.

"You have interesting markings," Ivan said, interrupting Troy's personal thoughts. When Troy looked at him with confusion, the bear motioned to the black marks going down on either side of his muzzle. "Those. What are those? I don't see many echidnas with markings like that."

"They're from my grandpa from my mom's side of the family," answered Troy with a sigh. It seemed everyone was determined to unravel his past if they could. "He is a cheetah."

"Ah ha." Ivan almost sounded triumphant as he pulled off one of the nearby cucumbers to start eating away as well. "I thought they looked like that of a cheetah, but I wasn't sure."

Troy was silent. After being forced to dig around in his past again, he found himself not so hungry. "I don't know if any of them are still alive, you know," he muttered honestly to the chef from where he decided to sit. "I guess I just want to forget that they ever existed if that ever comes to be true…"

"Wait till you get older," Ivan said in attempts to lighten the mood. "In several more years you'll have a hard time remembering your own age." Seeing the irritable glare from the young boy, he waved away his prior words with a smirk. "If you don't know if they're dead, boy, don't sit around all day and night wondering about them. It's going to drive you mad with worry. Besides, for any mother and or father, their one wish is for their child to be safe no matter what."

While Troy knew Ivan was right, it was still hard to accept the news.

Ivan's chewing slowed as he watched the sadness engulf the maroon echidna's face. "You seem well enough to start working," said the polar bear as he figured working Troy would prevent him from thinking on his past. "However, I think it is wise you talk to Lord Thunderhawk about this first before I start shacking you up in another part of the college."

"He's not my father," Troy scoffed, scrunching his nose up at the idea. "I don't need to ask him if I can or not."

Ivan rolled his shoulders. "Perhaps, but you know he'll be going into a panic if you just randomly disappear into my bedroom." Seeing Troy avoid eye contact with him, Ivan hit his fist against the nearby wooden desk to startle the young boy and get Troy to look directly at him. "You _**will**_ do it!"

After nodding hesitantly at the idea, Troy finished the food he was allowed to eat before excusing himself out of the kitchen and back towards the bedroom belonging to the guardian. Troy noticed that Thunderhawk was still fast asleep—snoring away near his alchemy table still. Moving the doors quietly, he tiptoed back towards the jarl's bed he was allowed to sleep within. Remaining upright in bed, Troy thought on what Ivan had offered. While he still planned on working on his own lightning magic, cooking was something he had usually dabbled with on the side of things when it came to his mother allowing him to help her make meals. Sighing with a shake of his head, he figured he would think more on it tomorrow, as he grabbed onto the covers and situated himself better for sleep.

* * *

"You can do it, Sara-Li," Thunderhawk's voice encouraged, rousing Troy slowly from his slumber the next morning.

"I want to, but it's so hard to keep the spell from going away!" Sara-Li complained, discouragement found within her tone.

Troy opened his eyes further to the surrounding voices, which continued to echo about the walls. His icy-blue eyes landing upon the cobblestone wall opposite of him, he figured they must have been at the front of the room training in magic usage.

Thunderhawk sighed with a shake of his head. "Sara-Li, if you want to be a great healer, it requires a lot of work and sacrifice," the elder reminded her, as he repositioned her hands in a way that looked like she was holding some invisible object before her to look at. "Focus your magic right here," he instructed, jabbing at her empty palms gently.

"Sometimes it comes to me, and sometimes it doesn't," Sara-Li whimpered, feeling a bit disheartened that she couldn't make her magic work as she had intended it to.

Kneeling beside her, Thunderhawk gently held onto her upper arms with a smile to her. "Sweetheart, magic is always with you. Anybody can do magic if they desire to do so. It doesn't just go away." Placing his hand upon her chest right where her heart was, he gently pushed upon it. "You need to think about what your goal is with your mind and your heart. If either one is unbalanced or not in sync, you'll not achieve what you intend to."

Sara-Li nodded at his words, closing her eyes to try and focus on the spell again. When Thunderhawk noticed that the ball of light was forming within her cupped hands, he kept his silence in hopes it would encourage it onwards the more she focused on it. He watched as the ball of light grew to about the size of an apple before remaining stabilized. While it hovered where it was in her hands, he moved his own off of her body to let her focus on the spell completely. "Alright, Sara-Li," he spoke quietly, "try and do something with the ball of magic."

Opening her eyes slowly, Sara-Li saw that she had the magical, healing light in her hands. Wondering what to do with it, she focused best she could to try and make the spell go forth and do as she asked. She watched as it moved about before it finally drifted behind her to latch onto the guardian—nearly making Thunderhawk fall over from the unexpected healing touch.

Turning quickly on her heels, Sara looked at the elder with curious eyes. "Did it work!" she asked, hurrying over to him with a tilt of her head.

"What did…what did you do?" Thunderhawk asked, raising his arms slightly upwards and about to see if he could figure it out. He had to admit that he was a bit nervous regarding a trainee using her magic upon him.

"I was hoping to heal your wound on your back," Sara-Li admitted, fidgeting a bit nervously in the process.

Removing his tunic for her, Thunderhawk let her see the bandaged back. "It still hurts a bit, Sara-Li, but that doesn't really mean you've not helped it a bit," he encouraged, as he didn't want Sara to give up in her healer training.

Sara smiled at his words before finding her attention turning to Troy, who was looking at the two from the slight curve of the wall. "You're finally up!" Sara-Li practically cheered, causing the guardian to eventually turn and see the young boy as well.

"What took you so long to wake up?" Thunderhawk teased, as he headed for Troy.

"I couldn't sleep," Troy answered honestly, leaning against the curve of the wall as he was still feeling a bit groggy.

Thunderhawk twisted his mouth to the side in thought. He would have offered to help Troy with his lightning magic, but with how tired the child looked, he wasn't going to press the idea any further. "Did you want something to eat? I was about to take a break here with Sara-Li to get something to nibble on."

Troy remembered the exchange with Ivan last night, and he couldn't help but shake his head. "No, I am fine," he whispered. Feeling a bit uncomfortable with them both staring at him, he sighed and asked: "Can I look around the college for a bit? I've been stuck in this room forever, it feels, and I want to look around."

"You're not going to run away, are you?" Thunderhawk asked, as he didn't want that boy's death on his shoulders.

"No…!" Troy snapped angrily. Wiping his dreary face with his palm, he started to shuffle across the room with his head lowered to avoid their curious looks. "I'll be fine. I just want to look around."

If anything, Troy wanted an excuse to just step outside again. How long had it been, anyways? A week, wasn't it? Keeping the baggy shirt about his body tightly, his padded feet crunched through the snow as he wandered about the circular courtyard just beyond the college's doors. With his thicker fur, the snow was nothing to him as he ventured over to the powder covered walls to take a look out at the world of Skyrim. A part of him wanted to go against his promise to Thunderhawk and try and find his way back to his home, but the mere thought of such made him weak to his knees.

Troy wasn't sure how long it had been since he had been out in the courtyard, but his ears caught the sound of someone coming up behind him later on in the day. Turning his head quickly, he saw that it was merely Sara-Li attempting to join him. "What do you want?" Troy asked, sounding a bit agitated that she was there.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay," Sara-Li answered, keeping a bit of distance between her and Troy for the time being. Her hands folded behind her back, she swayed slightly from side to side while struggling to think of what else to talk about. "I heard you can do magic too, yes?"

Troy honestly couldn't say he was an expert. "Sort of."

Smiling at his answer, Sara-Li made her way closer to the courtyard's wall to look out at the misty world beyond the college. "Why don't you ask the mages here for help? I am sure even Thunderhawk could help you."

"I don't need anybody's help."

Sara-Li let the comment roll off her back. "You wouldn't be learning alone," she encouraged with a slight wag of her tail. "I will be there learning magic with you." When she saw Troy look at her, Sara extended her hand to him. "I'll help you too! I might not know much, but I can still try!"

Seeing her extended hand, Troy hesitated at first but eventually accepted it. When he saw the triumphant smile spread across her muzzle, he pulled his hand back slowly with a shrug of his shoulders. "I'll…think about it."

"Sara-Li!" Cyrus called to his sister from where he stood near the door leading to their living space. "It's time to come home!"

Turning to her name, Sara-Li waved to her brother before pushing away from the stone divider to head towards him. She gave a sweet look to Troy one last time. "I'll see you later then!" Running to her older brother, Sara-Li opened her arms to hug him tightly about his leg before following him inside.

While magic was on his mind, Troy couldn't help but wander back to Ivan once more. If anything, Ivan could give him a place to live, and he wouldn't be forced to remain in Thunderhawk's room much longer. Realizing he had to bring it up with the jarl first, the winter echidna headed back towards the royal chambers to discuss it with Thunderhawk.

Thunderhawk was reading at the alchemy table with his reading glasses resting upon the slope of his nose. When he heard the door open, he glanced over the rim of the round specs briefly to see it was Troy, before going back to the letter in his hand. "It is good to see you're back." Upon not getting a response, Thunderhawk looked back up to see that Troy was looking as though he wanted to talk about something but was having a hard time doing so in how he was rubbing his right arm nervously. "Something you want to tell me?"

"I saw your chef," Troy whispered as he came a bit closer to Thunderhawk. He almost walked in a way that signified he was guilty of something.

The guardian released a brief laugh. "Did you now?" he asked, keeping his nose buried in the letters he continued to shuffle through. "What did that sarcastic bear say about me?"

Troy shrugged his shoulders, "Nothing, really. He did offer to teach me how to cook, though."

Thunderhawk had to look up at Troy again to see if the boy was serious. Removing his reading glasses and placing them off to the side on his desk, he overlapped his hands beneath his chin. "Did he? Well, you must be something special, because he normally is very choosey about whom he allows in his kitchen." When Troy didn't respond, he continued. "Are you sure you want to do this? You obviously have an inner desire to wield magic too if it has left you with scars."

The young echidna winced. "You're making it sound like I have to choose."

"I am not," answered Thunderhawk, "but I am pointing out that both will be very taxing on you. Are you sure you could handle that if you desire to even allow someone to help you learn to handle your lightning magic better?"

"Can't the 'someone' be you?" Troy hated to ask that, but at least then he wouldn't have to worry about Ivan going after anybody for him being late—it would be the leader of Winterhold, who apparently was used to Ivan's straightforward attitude.

Thunderhawk was surprised to hear the boy say that. Slowly, he lowered his hands to his desk to see that Troy was indeed serious. "If you want me to be, I can be your teacher. I don't know lightning magic very well but, like I told Sara-Li, I can help you get the basics down, and perhaps you can go from there."

"I won't need to bother you with living here in your room anymore," said Troy as he finally relaxed his stance a bit. "Ivan offered me some place to live with him."

"He probably meant the servants' quarters." Rolling up the multitudes of letters he had looked through, the guardian used his magic to transport the parchments elsewhere. "I don't really request the use of servants regarding bathing me and what not, so that area of the college is pretty empty and only has the cooking servants."

"I thought you guardians always had servants to boss around," Troy stated boldly, not feeling any regret for his words.

Thunderhawk shrugged as he stood beside his alchemy table. "Most of us do. However, I am just fine without mine." The guardian crossed his arms over his chest as he ventured closer to Troy. "Alright, I will teach you in the mornings with Sara-Li, and Ivan can teach you about cooking at night. If he has a problem with that schedule, he can take it up with me, if he likes." Honestly, the guardian was hoping more than anything that Ivan wouldn't have the courage to do so as Thunderhawk knew he would easily lose.

While liking the idea of living in his own space for a change, Troy couldn't help but desire one more night in the jarl's room. "Until I talk to Ivan about my decision, can I stay here?"

_Well, aren't we finally being friendly?_ Thunderhawk thought to himself before smiling at the request. "You can, and while you're here—." He gestured for Troy to follow him back to his bed as he began to shuffle through his spell books. "—I want you to read these to get a better understanding of how magic works."

Jumping from the three tomes falling on his lap, Troy furrowed his brow in wonder. "All of these…?"

Thunderhawk nodded. "You can read, can't you?"

Troy hesitantly responded with a drawn out, "Yes."

"Alright then, I plan on you reading all of them before your lessons can begin," Thunderhawk instructed with a smile. "If you have any questions about the books, you know where I am."

"How am I going to read all of these in _**ONE**_ day!" Troy exclaimed, baring his teeth at how much of a difficult teacher Thunderhawk was already being.

Thunderhawk tilted his head slightly downwards to get a better look at the young echidna. "I suggest you find the time to do so. You can even find a moment to read them in your free time when learning under Ivan. He'll give you a break from cooking now and again."

"But I—!"

Before Troy could start complaining, Thunderhawk opened the top book to the first page and, literally, buried Troy's nose within it. "Read. You can whine later."


	6. Chapter 6

**_Author's Notes_**: Sorry about the delay. I kind of got sucked into the most awesome indie game: Dust: An Elysian Tail, and I cannot stay away from doing artwork for it.

Anywho, X rated moment was removed further down in this chapter. If you want to read it uncut, head to my MediaMiner profile.

* * *

The years that continued seemed to be the same for Troy. He would wake up early to prepare the meal for the royal court and those willing to attend for such. Afterwards, he would head to Lord Thunderhawk's room to learn more about casting with Sara-Li before heading back to the kitchen to help Ivan with dinner. Opening his icy-blue eyes to that same, dreary room, Troy moved over upon his old cot and stretched with a yawn at the new day that was to greet him upon his fifteenth year. The rumbling sound of Krine (his roommate) snoring, however, was enough to make the young mage cock his brow with a playful huff at the winter rabbit.

Taking his nearby pillow, Troy chucked it at the rabbit to cause the white and brown spotted anthro to stop with the relentless, loud snoring. Moving his droopy ears from his face, Krine drifted one slightly towards the small laughter of the echidna before his green eyes landed upon him curiously. "Yeah, laugh it up," the rabbit mumbled before stretching with a spread of his toes and a curling of his fingers.

"We both won't be laughing if Ivan gets a hand on us," Troy commented as he removed the dirty blanket from his body to get to his padded feet with a small grunt at having to rest on that hard, stone floor.

Crossing one leg over the other, Krine almost looked content to just go right back to sleep. "If anything, I am just glad I don't have to wake up to your voice cracking anymore. I was sick of hearing that frog playing around with your vocal strings," the rabbit teased, only to be rewarded with another pillow smacking the side of his head.

"Everyone matures," Troy huffed, not finding the comment funny at all as he scooped back up his pillow. "I am sure your voice was squeaker than mine, you insufferable—."

"'Insufferable'?" Krine interrupted with a chuckle. "Wow, who has been teaching you these new words?"

Before Troy could respond, the loud banging on their door was enough to startle them both. "Troy! Krine!" Ivan bellowed angrily. "Do I have to get in there and drag you both out by your tails! Get down to the kitchen already, dammit!"

Krine easily fell out of his bed after that moment, scrambling to grab up his clothes, in the process. "C-Coming!" he stammered, nearly tripping over his pants, as he attempted to put them on.

Troy ran his fingers through his wild, messy white hair to try and set it better as he too ran for his clean clothes. Upon getting dressed and decent, he hurried to the kitchen with Krine right behind him. His hands upon his apron, Troy hastily wrapped it around himself though fumbled with the knot a bit with how nervous he was that Ivan might smack him for sleeping in. With his fingers continuing to twist and turn in failure at it, a delicate touch gently graced his hands to stop him from continuing and helped with tying his apron in place.

"There," said Sara-Li's voice sweetly from behind Troy. Upon the young teen turning around, she smiled at him innocently. "I thought a cook was supposed to be good with his hands?" she giggled with her tongue sticking out from her muzzle teasingly.

"What are you doing here?" Troy asked, sounding more irritated than anything. While he didn't mind Sara-Li, he sometimes found her to be that annoying younger sister that always hung by his side.

Sara-Li narrowed her eyes with a twist of her mouth. "Apparently being helpful. I guess I shouldn't hold my breath for a 'thank you' as you're always good at that." She turned on her heels to grab up the sack of food Ivan had prepared for her earlier before he had stormed off to get Troy and Krine to wake up. "Even when I would heal you after you'd try practicing your magic ahead of Lord Thunderhawk's lessons."

Moving his maroon furred fingers through his hair, he expressed a nasally sigh. "I didn't mean it like that, I—it's early, okay?"

"You never are a morning person," Sara-Li didn't mind pointing out as she checked the food items in the bag to see what Ivan had given her. "Always so grumpy," she seemed to muse, "and nothing but a jerk at times."

Troy rolled his icy-blue eyes and said nothing in return for the time being. He knew it would merely result in a fight, and he didn't want it to escalate into anything other than a small spat. "What are you doing up so early? Trying to continue being 'teacher's pet'?" The young lightning mage knew that at times Sara-Li would get up early to try and fetch food for her family before taking her studying material to the library to catch up on a few things before Thunderhawk was ready for lessons.

Sara-Li shot an unimpressed, irritable look at Troy. "Why should what I do bother you? I am trying to help my brother out of anybody when it comes to me learning to be a healer." She narrowed her violet eyes. "I at least have a reason to do my magic. What is yours?"

It seemed no matter how Troy tried to speak to Sara-Li it always resorted in his words coming out wrong.

"I merely came here to grab some food for my family, and then I was going to worry about studying in the library afterwards before the magic lessons." Sighing, she tied the knapsack tightly to keep the food from spilling anywhere before placing it over her shoulder cautiously. "Now, if you'll excuse me—."

Troy watched as Sara-Li headed out of the kitchen at that moment, prompting his body to finally relax with an irritable huff. "Why is it so hard to talk to her?" he mostly muttered to himself, but Krine couldn't help but overhear him.

Krine scoffed as he began chopping the onions, though at a rather slow pace as he was still trying to wake up. "It's your way of flirting, probably," he smirked, his ear twitching to Troy's grumbled words slightly after his comment. "It's true, my friend. You're at that age where you're trying to defend yourself against the idea of finding a young woman like Sara-Li attractive."

"I didn't ask you, Krine," Troy pointed out with a narrowing of his icy-blue eyes.

"Krine! Troy!" Ivan's voice bellowed from the front of the kitchen. "Stop talking, and get to work, before I flog both your backsides!"

Without another word on the matter, Troy scurried to grab his own cutting board and knife before getting the lettuce he was supposed to be working on as he usually did every morning. Krine buried his nose back into the onions, chopping at them a bit quicker, not wishing to rouse the bear's anger further.

As the day continued, Thunderhawk found himself mostly consumed with his paperwork regarding the tax increase, new law ideas from the council, and even new letters from his daughter and other relatives. His quill shook back and forth vigorously as he tried to keep up with the piles of paper and not get overwhelmed. "I don't want to have to increase the taxes," he mumbled to himself, tapping the feathered tip of the quill against his muzzle in thought. "However, I need more money to continue repairs on Winterhold…" Thunderhawk rolled his fingers through his wild bangs, tapping the pen lightly upon the parchment, which was to hold his response.

The sound of someone knocking upon his door snapped the elder from his train of thought briefly. His blue eyes meeting the double doors across the room, he called out to whoever it was. "You may enter."

Sara-Li pushed open the door slowly as she could always tell when something was weighing heavily on the leader's mind as of late. "Thunderhawk?" she called curiously. "Is it alright if I come in early…?"

Seeing the young Sara-Li standing there, the guardian smiled at her best he could through his concerned expression. "Of course, Sara-Li," Thunderhawk insisted, gesturing to the chair across the room near his alchemy table. "Just have a seat. I'll be with you shortly."

Moving to the alchemy table, Sara-Li occasionally glanced over at the guardian as she carefully placed her belongings on the empty table. "Are you okay? You sound really worried about something."

"It's just the same old stuff, Sara-Li," Thunderhawk insisted, as he finished with his signature on the tax increase letter before putting his seal on the band, which he wrapped around the folded up parchment. "Ever since part of my city fell into the waters below, it's been hard trying to find means to get this place as active and lively as it once was. Sadly, I need the help of others to do so, and that requires higher taxes."

Sara-Li heard that word—'taxes'—and it made her weak kneed. "You're not…going to overcharge my parents…are you?" When his blue eyes met her, Sara felt a bit foolish to ask such a thing, but she couldn't help it. "The reason we left home was because the taxes were too high …I don't want to move again."

Thunderhawk was aware she was still very young, so she didn't understand what was considered too high in regards to taxes or even how they worked. "Sara-Li," he began as he headed towards her, "what was being charged back in Vvardenfell was a very high amount. The ruler of your village was taxing everyone dry from what your father told me. I try not to raise the taxes beyond a certain amount; especially, with how hard things are at the moment for my people." Seeing the relaxed look on her face, Thunderhawk moved his hand to her cheek to caress her gently there with the back of his fingers. "I promised I would take good care of you when I met you, Sara-Li, and I intend to keep that promise."

When the door opened this time without a knock, Thunderhawk and Sara-Li both turned to see Troy entering the room. Removing his hand from Sara's cheek, he chuckled softly at how Troy didn't seem to mind barging into his bedroom. "Yes, you're welcome to join us," he sarcastically commented though a bit of playfulness clung to his tone.

Troy removed his messy apron and placed it upon the nearby table where he always kept it before making it towards the alchemy desk with Sara-Li and Thunderhawk. "Sorry, I didn't think I was interrupting anything." He tried not to sound irritable about the fact, so he merely took his seat across from Sara-Li.

"Someone smells like onions and black pepper," Thunderhawk commented with a smile as he slid on his reading glasses to read the text of the book that he had pulled from his small library to try and remember where they last left off. "I am to guess you're working on a vegetable or tomato soup of some sort?"

"Well, a vegetable soup is prepared and ready for dinner tonight," Troy commented, opening his book as well to the right page. "You'll know that if you bother to show up for dinner tonight." He knew that Thunderhawk rarely ate with his court (at least from what he noticed upon arriving). At times, he couldn't help but feel annoyed by it as he wanted Thunderhawk to taste his food at least once in front of him.

Hearing the slight pain in his voice, Thunderhawk looked over the rim of his glasses at Troy before smiling at his words. "I promise I will show up tonight. Now, let's focus on our studies." Picking up the tome in his hands, he refreshed his old memory. "Alright, so both of you have gotten the foundation down of attempting and holding onto your beginner spells, but, I would like to try something different." Putting the book down on the table, he looked between the two. "Sara-Li, I want you to try and learn how to do a destructive spell while, Troy, I want you to learn how to do a supportive spell."

"_**Wh-What!**_" both of them exclaimed at once, unable to believe their spells could do anything of the sort.

Thunderhawk raised his hand to silence the two. "You both may think it impossible, but each spell has an ability to change from being helpful to hurtful, just as any destructive spell can turn from something deadly to supportive." Opening his hand, he showed off his fire spell lingering there in his right palm before showing off his icy flame in the other. "While I mostly use my flame magic to attack others, that's not all it is good for. With my fire, I can create a protective wall of flame to deter a majority of attacks. I can even make an ice barrier to cast upon myself and or others to have them absorb certain spells or incoming damage."

"But…I've never heard of healers using spells to defend themselves in an attacking way," Sara-Li commented, her hands bunched up upon her book's pages. "I thought they always brought bows and arrows with them or swords or something."

"Most cases, they do, as it is wise to do so in an unforgiving place like Skyrim," Thunderhawk answered. "But what if those were taken away from you and all you had was your magic?" Seeing her confused face, he chortled. "As a caster of any kind, you need to learn to improvise, so you do not find yourself trapped and out of options." Looking to Troy, he raised a bushy brow to him as well. "And you—you won't always have support with you, so you need to learn to tap into defensive spells when possible."

"What in the hell can lightning magic really do beyond destroy things?" Troy asked, raising his brow back at Thunderhawk, as he felt it was impossible to do such a thing with lightning magic in terms of defensive spells.

"It can create a defensive barrier like all destructive magic can," said the elder as he moved the spell book he was reading in front of Troy to show him. "Yours will require more concentration, however, as lightning barriers are closer to the body of the person it is given to. If you make one mistake in your casting, it could cause horrible damage to whoever you cast the barrier on."

"So…who is going to be the person I test this on?" Troy asked.

Upon seeing Troy's icy-blue eyes venture over to her, Sara-Li raised her hands defensively. "Don't look at me!"

Thunderhawk laughed softly with a shake of his head. "I have some practice dummies you can practice the spell on, Troy."

"Are you talking about the ones outside?" asked Sara-Li.

Thunderhawk groped his brown beard as he winked down at the young healer. "There are those, but I do have my own down in my training room. I'd rather not have the two of you stand outside in the bitter cold practicing your magic. I know your fur is thick, Troy, and you can handle it, but Sara-Li can't do it for extended periods."

"Where is this training room of yours?" Troy asked, looking about the room to notice that nothing seemed different from before. He knew by now where all the visible doors went to.

Pulling from the wooden alchemy table, the two teens watched as Thunderhawk made his way to the center of his room where an intricately woven quilt was sprawled out across the floor. Grabbing up the quilt, he moved it off to the side to show the two a hidden latch underneath it. "I keep this private, so I have a means to escape from my servants pestering me when I want to get some studying and or practice in." Grabbing onto the circular, iron handle, Thunderhawk pulled open the latch and carefully steadied the door before gesturing the two over. "So, congratulations—you two are the only others to know it is here."

Hopping up eagerly, Sara-Li made it over towards the uncovered door to see the wooden floorboards just down the ladder that were slightly covered in bits of straw. Her curious eyes looking at the elder, she questioned silently if it was alright to go down there already.

"Go ahead," Thunderhawk said, gesturing down the steps with a smile.

Sara-Li made her way down into the secret training room the elder had while being followed by Troy and then Thunderhawk. She noticed there wasn't much space, but it did have a small wooden desk, a few shelves, and the training dummies he mentioned earlier. "Do you ever sleep down here?" Troy asked, as he noticed a cot off to the side near the desk not far from the ladder.

"Sometimes," said Thunderhawk before moving the two children towards the training dummies. "Now, Sara-Li—when it comes to your healing magic, it's mostly comprised of light, so your attack will be light based. I am sure for a destructive spell we can use a light bolt of some sort."

"H-How do I do that?" Sara-Li never liked the idea of using destructive magic. Seeing mages uses it from the sidelines always made her periwinkle fur stand on end in worry something could go wrong.

Thunderhawk bent down slightly behind Sara with his hands upon her shoulders. "Just breathe in slowly and relax," he instructed. "Casting a destructive spell is the same as your healing spells except you change the layout of the formula, obviously." Taking her hands, he positioned them just before her body before working on straightening her posture. "Alright, now, focus on the dummy ahead of you, and think on forming your healing light into a destructive force at the figure ahead of you."

Troy watched from behind as Thunderhawk taught Sara-Li. However, the more he watched, the more he could feel something boiling up within him. It almost felt like a territorial anger of some sort when he saw the elder's hands move about on Sara-Li's body to direct her form. And the other was…arousal? Troy tucked his tail at the idea that Krine was probably right—that there was a hidden desire within him to bed with the fair Sara-Li, but he did his best to shake it off.

Doing as instructed, Sara-Li did her best to try and reformat the formula within her mind to force her magic to do something harmful instead of helpful. She found her body jerking backwards when she released the attack on the training dummy. Thunderhawk caught her as he watched the spell land a small mark upon the wooden torso. "Not bad, Sara-Li," he praised with a smile. "We still have a ways to go, but not bad for a first try." Turning his attention to Troy, he called for the young boy to notice his mind appeared to be elsewhere for a moment. "Troy—Troy?" he called, before finally walking over to the teen to shake him gently. "Hey, come back to us," Thunderhawk teased lightly.

Troy almost snapped at Thunderhawk for bringing him back from his daydreaming, but he stopped himself as he was ushered forwards next. "Do you honestly think I can do this?" Troy asked with a raise of his brow.

"Not right away, no," Thunderhawk answered honestly as he held onto Troy's upper shoulders supportively. "However, like all talents, you need to practice on it. That's what these test dummies are for, and this is what we're going to work on until it's perfect. Now, raise your left hand slightly above your head and lower your other one right about…there…beside your chest," Thunderhawk mused as he moved Troy's arms about. "Now, have your palms face one another—perfect. Alright, now, focus on the target dummy in front of you and try to bend your lightning spell into a circular motion to encase the target, but don't let the spell get too close."

Taking in a deep breath, Troy curled his fingers slightly from where they were positioned about his body to conjure up his lightning power from the tips of his fingers. The sparks started to flicker and dance across his hands before finally shooting forwards to create an electric ball around the dummy before him. Sweat beading from his brow, Troy struggled to try and keep the lightning from wanting to break free and do its own thing against his wishes. "I….can't…!" he growled in frustration, unable to keep the spell from latching onto the target and zapping it several times before dissipating from sight.

Thunderhawk watched as Troy fell to his knees from exhaustion of trying to fight the spell. He cocked his brow in confusion as he made it over towards the young echidna to help him back to his feet. "Why are you fighting with your magic? Magic isn't something you 'demand', it is something that comes naturally and just flows through you."

"I am not fighting it!" Troy grumbled, jerking his arm away from Thunderhawk irritably. He sighed out his frustrations while his fingers traveled through his wild, white hair. "Magic may come easy to some people, but it never did come easy for me."

"Magic never comes easy for anybody, Troy," said Thunderhawk, his arms crossing over his chest to show his disapproval in the statement. "If anything, I find it amazing you discovered yours at such a young age without any help."

"It was because of the tomes at our village's library that caused me to learn at a young age," Troy admitted, trying to relax his body as he desired to try again.

Thunderhawk noticed the stance that the young pupil was taking, prompting him to reach over and quickly lower Troy's hands. "Troy, I don't think you should go again so soon. You need to sit down since you put so much energy into that shield."

Troy was about to fight the elder for the right to try a second time, but his eyes drifted over towards Sara-Li who looked nervous about the idea of him attempting to do so. Seeing her so concerned made the anger subside, and he stepped off to the side with a small huff. "Fine…"

Knowing that Troy had to be back in the kitchen to help prepare dinner in a few hours, Thunderhawk gestured back towards the ladder. "We'll continue to work on both abilities some other time, as it takes a lot of energy and focus to try and rework your mind to manipulate a spell into something completely different. Let's head back upstairs for a moment, so I can hand you both a book, which may help the both of you."

Upon making it back up to his bedroom, Thunderhawk found the appropriate spell books to give over to Troy and Sara-Li. "Thank you, Lord Thunderhawk," Sara-Li praised softly as she held the book close to her chest. "I should grab some dinner for my family and head back home."

Thunderhawk smiled down at the young healer. "You're welcome, Sara-Li." Waving goodbye to her as she hurried to the bedroom door, the lilac echidna noticed Troy was watching Sara-Li leave rather closely. "Distracted, are we?" he said teasingly.

Troy turned quickly to the elder to realize what it was he was hinting at. Baring his teeth with a jerk of his body as if physically harmed by Thunderhawk's comment, the winter echidna growled lowly. "It's nothing!" he exclaimed defensively.

Thunderhawk smirked with a roll of his eyes at Troy trying to defend his actions. "Is that why you're having a hard time concentrating lately?" Seeing the young boy try to look away, he realized that Troy was trying to understand and go through puberty without the help of someone. His palms resting firmly on the alchemy table behind him, Thunderhawk titled his head curiously. "Do you want to talk about it?"

He noticed that Thunderhawk was acting less playful and more serious about the matter at hand all of a sudden. "What do you mean?"

"I just happen to notice you eyeing Sara-Li, and I was curious if you wanted to talk about it or not," explained the guardian. Thunderhawk spotted the blush rather easily on the muzzle of Troy, making him chuckle to himself. "It's nothing to be embarrassed about. What you're going through is perfectly normal."

Troy looked at Thunderhawk with a curious, uncertain gaze. "Are you sure you want to hear me talk about that sort of thing…?"

Thunderhawk didn't want to point out that Troy had nobody else to go to. While he could go to Ivan, he inwardly shuttered at the 'to the point' advice the bear would give the poor kid. "Why not? We're all men here—that is, if you feel comfortable doing so."

The young echidna knew that he could try to talk to Ivan and or Krine about his situation, but the thought of that made his skin crawl and his stomach tighten in uneasiness. Troy sighed, unsure of where to even begin with how awkward he had been feeling lately. "She smells funny," he randomly blurted out.

His wrinkled brow wrinkled further at Troy's comment as he crossed his leg over the other upon sitting back on the table behind him. "'Smells funny'?" he asked.

"Yeah, she smells like…" Troy struggled to look for the appropriate word. "It's like… whatever it is, it smells like it's driving me to her. How can you not smell it?"

"That's probably her mating scent she's putting out," Thunderhawk commented as though it were nothing to him. "Girls usually hit their heat cycle about 11 or so years, and that is what is causing that smell. The reason I don't notice it is because I am not focused on her as a mate. If I was, that would be a different story." He tilted his head slightly in wonder of how to phrase his next question, as he knew it would be an uncomfortable one. "Given the even worse flair of emotions, I'd say you're enduring your body changing as well. Have you….attempted to mate with anybody?"

The question was unbearable to be asked, and it made the muzzle of Troy to blush a dark red. Even if getting married and making love with someone about that age wasn't unheard of in Skyrim, it was still embarrassing to be asked. "N-No!" he shouted, his thick fur spiking up in anger.

Thunderhawk tried to hide his grin. "Have you tried talking to Sara-Li about how you feel?"

"No," Troy admitted, rubbing the back of his head, wishing he could find a way to escape the conversation. "Every time I try to talk to her at all, it comes out wrong, and she gets mad at me."

"Well," began the elder, "it usually is difficult to talk to the opposite sex no matter what your age is." Leaning forwards on his thighs a bit, he smiled at Troy. "Anyways, if you ever need to talk about, I can do my best to offer advice."

Troy wasn't sure what to say to that. It was nice of Thunderhawk, sure, but he inwardly always wanted to be mad at him for trying to be helpful. "Th-Thanks," he whispered before finally taking the book Thunderhawk had given him and hurrying towards the door.

* * *

Sara-Li was determined to get the light blast to work, even if it meant waking up earlier than usual and training outside in the bitter cold to do so. Thunderhawk had noticed her doing so from his bedroom window, making him hurry down to her one early morning in the winter. "Sara-Li…!" he called, jogging through the snow towards her. "What in Skyrim are you doing out here at this hour!"

Turning her focus from the target in the courtyard, Sara-Li brought her hooded cape tighter about her body. "Don't worry about me, Lord Thunderhawk. As long as I think on my spells, I don't mind the cold."

"By the Goddess, child, you are not a winter echidna!" Thunderhawk reminded her as he gently touched her jaw line with his fingertips to get her to look at him. "You need to get back inside. The winters get worse around this year, and your fur isn't thick enough for this sort of weather."

Holding onto his wrists, she looked up at him pleadingly. "I can do this, my Lord…! Please, just let me focus on it."

His nasally sigh visible upon the cold air, Thunderhawk knew there was no fighting with her. "Alright," he said, gesturing towards the practice target. "But, I am going to stand here and make sure you're alright in the process."

Sara-Li continued to work on the spell best she could in front of Thunderhawk. If anything, the stress of the spell was making her sweat, and she had indeed forgotten all about the cold around her. Upon the fifteenth try, Sara-Li sighed out in defeat. "Why is this so hard?" she asked, looking at the guardian.

Thunderhawk reached for Sara's shoulder to hold it tenderly. "Taking a spell you're familiar with and changing it into something completely different isn't an easy task, Sara-Li." He smiled at her sweetly. "You will get this. Don't give up."

Blushing at his words, Sara-Li was about to respond but stopped when she heard the harsh sound of horse hooves beating into the ground. The gate flying open, two men arrived at Winterhold College, parading around with the coloration and symbol of Dawnstar. Thunderhawk pulled his focus from Sara to the guards and instantly he felt his knees become weak at their urgent behavior.

"Lord Thunderhawk! We have urgent news from Dawnstar!" the silver male wolf exclaimed as he tugged on the reins of his horse to steady it. "It's Queen Janelle-Li! She's—there's been an accident!"

Hearing that, Thunderhawk thought for sure his heart had stopped beating. "It-Is she alright…!" he exclaimed, moving closer to the guards. Neither of the guards answered. Thunderhawk witnessed as they merely looked at one another. "What happened to my daughter!"

"We need you to come to Dawnstar right away, sire!" the other guard urged. "Please…! We will watch over Winterhold in your absence."

Thunderhawk whistled loudly for Silverstar. The heavy horse galloping towards him, the elder gripped onto the horse's mane to heft himself up on the back of the steed. "Sara-Li, I want you back with your parents, right now!" he demanded firmly between his teeth before looking at the guards. "Everything better be as I have left it, or I will have both your hides!" Thunderhawk threatened before nudging Silverstar's sides to make him take off quickly out of the college and towards Dawnstar without hesitation.


	7. Chapter 7

It was quite the ride to Dawnstar from where Winterhold was, but Thunderhawk inwardly griped about the distance as he worried what could have possibly happened to his only child to the point the two guards couldn't find the words to even tell him beyond saying an 'accident'. Doing his best to dodge the naked branches in his path, Thunderhawk soon saw the small Village of Dawnstar coming into view. _I'm coming, Janelle-Li…! Just hold on! _he begged mentally as he soon heard the guards at the entrance announcing his arrival.

Silverstar tore through the snowy village to make it towards the jarl's court. Thunderhawk dismounted before his steed even managed to stop. Tearing into the room, he saw many of the royal court turn to look at the King of Winterhold with a somber expression. "Where is my daughter…!" he demanded to know as he pushed his way through his daughter's subjects.

Janelle-Li's captain of the guard quickly made his way to Thunderhawk to try and stop the elder from getting any closer to the scene to explain what happened, but the guardian was quick to push him harshly to the side to see his daughter lying there motionless on the floor with her pink dreadlocks spilled about the cold, hard floor. Inhaling sharply at the sight of her there, he felt his legs fail to support him much further as he fell to his knees there beside her body.

"My Lord, let me explain—," the Captain of Dawnstar began.

"What happened to my daughter…?" Thunderhawk demanded to know, his voice trembling as he spoke. His fingers clenching into fists there in his lap, he lowered his head to hide his growing sadness.

"It was the Dark Brotherhood, my Lord," the doe house jarl explained somberly from where she stood nearby. "They had…corrupted one of our own, and our former high mage poisoned her…"

Thunderhawk was quiet for a moment, his hands moving to his face to hide his tears of pain. "Who could do this…?" Turning around to the nearby court, he roared with unimaginable misery in his words: "_**WHO COULD DO THIS MY DAUGHTER!**_"

The entire court looked at one another with a bit of guilt that they were unable to stop it or even see the signs in their high mage's growing corruption.

"Janelle-Li…" Thunderhawk practically whimpered as he maneuvered his arm underneath her body, which he could feel it was hollow and cold with soullessness. To feel for himself that she was indeed gone was almost more then his old heart could bear. Holding her tightly to his body, which shook with his uncontrollable sobs, he buried his face into her golden hair. "I am so sorry, sweetheart. Daddy's sorry he wasn't here…"

The royal court was quiet as they allowed the guardian to grieve over the loss of his child as they quietly joined in doing so over the loss of their Queen.

(())

Sara-Li's worry-filled purple eyes looked to the distant, snowy road beyond Winterhold College in hopes she would see Lord Thunderhawk's steed approaching once more. It was almost dark, and he had yet to return. Looking up to her father, she sighed softly. "He's not coming back…is he…?"

Devon furrowed his brow at his youngest child, wishing he had something positive to say. "All we can do is keep up hope that nothing ill has fallen Lady Janelle-Li, sweetheart." Seeing her rest her chin upon her overlapped arms on the snow covered cobblestone wall, he smiled at his daughter best he could. "Come on, Sara-Li," Devon insisted with his hand upon her back. "You really shouldn't be out in this cold for too long." Devon escorted Sara back to their living space. "We should sit down for dinner soon anyways."

Holding onto her father's arm, Sara-Li kept her eyes fixated on the iron gate entrance until it was obscured by the archway, which led into their living quarters. Opening the door to their room, Devon smiled a greeting to his son and wife before greeting Jade-Li with a loving yet brief kiss upon her lips.

Jade-Li noticed the way Sara was holding herself and couldn't help but ask her husband: "Lord Thunderhawk hasn't returned?"

Devon merely shook his head. "I'll heat up dinner, my love. It shouldn't take long." He tapped Jade-Li's nose teasingly. Grabbing up the sack of food that Sara-Li had brought home that day, he ventured out of their bedroom and to the shared living space just beyond their door to use the fire for a bit.

Cyrus looked from his dad to his little sister to notice she was looking at the same page for quite some time. Hinting she was doing her best to avoid being asked anything or even bothered. Crawling onto the bed, Cyrus didn't ask her anything or say anything. The light-brown echidna wrapped his arms about her in a comforting way as he knew Sara-Li was merely worried about the vague circumstances that called Thunderhawk away.

Feeling her elder brother's arms around her, Sara-Li wanted to push him away as she wasn't in the mood to be comforted, but there was something about his embrace that always relaxed her. Putting her book down, she held Cyrus tightly in return with a soft sigh. "Thanks, big brother," Sara whispered.

Cyrus didn't respond. He merely smiled to himself.

Sara-Li attempted to eat when her father returned with dinner a few moments later. She couldn't help but continue to replay the moment where Thunderhawk left so swiftly on Silverstar, leaving the guards to escort her back to her parents. He seemed so scared and worried that it actually rattled her. There was honestly hardly a time where Sara-Li could say that the strong guardian showed those emotions.

Seeing her daughter push aside her food, Jade-Li sighed quietly. "Sara, sweetie—you should eat," Jade-Li whispered, gently nudging the plate back towards her child.

"I'm not hungry," Sara-Li pouted, leaning back in her chair.

"Sara—."

Sara-Li interrupted her mother quickly. "Excuse me, please." Moving from the room, she made her way hastily back outside.

Seeing his wife about to get up and go after their daughter, Devon was quick to reach for Jade and keep her still. "Let her go, my love. She's a maturing young woman who is conflicted with all these new emotions and realizations as she grows," Devon explained in attempts to settle the growing worry in his lover's eyes.

"There's never been a moment I didn't know how to calm my daughter," Jade-Li said with a soft frown. It felt as though her child was becoming a foreign creature whom she shared a love for materially.

"She's a teenager," Devon pointed out with a lighthearted chuckle. "Cyrus went through his time of maturing, and I was at a loss just as you are going to be at a loss now." Reaching for his wife's hands, he held them with a tight squeeze to let her know he was there to support her. "She's growing up. Sara-Li has to realize that even the strong will crumble at times."

It was harder to see with the snow falling so heavily about twilight. Wrapping herself in her coat, Sara-Li saw that the light in Thunderhawk's room remained out to indicate he hadn't returned. Her periwinkle hair whipping about in the harsh winter winds, Sara expelled a somber sigh to herself as her entire body felt numb with worry. "Why would he just leave like that…Doesn't he understand how worried I get for him, or does he bother to notice…?"

Troy as well couldn't help but notice that Thunderhawk hadn't returned from where he was about the top of the college. He knew that the elder had retreated to Dawnstar given the message the guards had given the royal court earlier in the day. From where he stood, he had a better view of Skyrim. His icy-blue eyes shifted downwards to the young Sara-Li to notice her worrying pace. He wanted to go down and comfort her, but he knew that if he tried, his words would just come out wrong, so he resisted. "Thunderhawk, where the hell are you…?" he grumbled, hating that he was becoming so dependant on the guardian.

* * *

With the sun rising the next day in Dawnstar, Thunderhawk woke in his daughter's bed. He was so drained from the endless crying and mourning he did over the loss of his daughter the previous day. As he opened his eyes, he wanted to believe, more than anything, that it was all just a nightmare—that Janelle-Li would merely come into the room a moment later to playfully scold him for sleeping in so late. As his old eyes looked about the room, he could remember clearly the time he used to rule Dawnstar. The playful and sweet giggling of his little girl echoing in the room was almost real in his depressive state.

"_Daddy! Daddy!"_ Janelle-Li's little voice called in the back of his mind as he imagined seeing her only seven-years-old running towards the bed with her arms open. _"Get up, daddy!"_

"Sire…?" Ulynda, the doe, called to him, causing the image to deteriorate. She saw that his eyes were glossed over, making her worried that the sorrow was so much for him that he had passed in the night. "Lord Thunderhawk, wake up…"

Blinking finally, Thunderhawk's weary, blue eyes shifted upwards at the house jarl.

"Thank the Goddesses," Ulynda breathed with relief, her gloved hand upon her chest to still her beating heart. "My Lord, we didn't wish to go through with Lady Janelle-Li's burial until we had your word and your attendance, if you desired to, that is…"

Thunderhawk moved himself slowly from where he rested upon his daughter's bed. "I may be saddened by the loss of my daughter… but that doesn't mean I do not wish to attend her burial." Massaging the pain between his eyes, he did his best to prevent himself from crying again over the realization that Janelle-Li was gone. "Please…leave me to get prepared."

Ulynda tilted her head with a curious raise of her brow. "My Lord, I can send Lady Janelle-Li's servants in here to help you—."

"No!" Thunderhawk quickly dismissed with a subtle growl at the idea. Seeing the startled look in the young doe's eyes, he calmed his voice. "No…I can clean and dress myself." Here, he gestured towards the door. "Leave me, please."

"As you wish, my Lord," Ulynda said understandingly with a bow before taking her leave.

After bathing, Thunderhawk found himself venturing about the palace with fond memories of his first wife and when he first held his little girl. It was the happiest moment for him to see his child there in his arms after many months of waiting. Every room he went to, he could easily remember seeing Janelle-Li at different stages of her life.

"_Daddy?_

_Daddy, are you okay?_

_Wake up, daddy! I made you something!_

_You have to trust I can do this, dad! I can rule Dawnstar!_

_You really should take better care of yourself, father._

_You just don't want me to continue using my healing magic, you big baby, and here I thought you supported healers._

_I love you too, dad."_

He hadn't realized that his tears were soaking his muzzle and fur upon his chest once more as he thought on all the times he shared with her—the last moment in particular, as he wished he had spent more time with her than what he had. "I didn't know that our time together was so short…if I had…" Thunderhawk took a deep breath to try and regain himself as he made his way out of the Dawnstar palace.

Seeing his daughter lying there to be prepared to be buried with the other previous rulers of Dawnstar was hard for Thunderhawk to accept. Upon finding his feet, he stepped forwards to touch the stiff, cold hand of his child with a shaky breath. "I'm sorry I can't be with you, Janelle-Li, as you transcend to the other world," he whispered, his words heavy with his feelings of loss. "You were not supposed to die before me…I wasn't prepared for this," Thunderhawk cried, his body shaking as he kept her hand within his own regardless of how much the rigid and icy hand reminded him that she was dead.

Taking in a deep breath, the elder attempted to regain himself as he continued. "Allow me to be selfish for a mere moment." His fingers wrapping about the bracelet she wore on her left wrist, Thunderhawk removed it to take it for himself. "I merely wanted a piece of you to take home with me…" Sniffling back his sadness, he shook his head with regret. "I am afraid I don't have anything to give you but my love." Thunderhawk leaned forwards to kiss Janelle-Li's forehead.

The captain of the guard wondered how to approach the Jarl of Winterhold until clearing his throat to do so. "My Lord, I promise, we will drive the Dark Brotherhood out of Dawnstar…"

"I want you to rid Skyrim of them," Thunderhawk demanded angrily, even if it was merely his emotions asking of such an impossible task. "It will be a cold day in hell should I let them take anything precious from me again. If you need the aid of my men, I will send them, but…my people…my people need me, so I cannot help in any other way."

The captain could see that it pained Thunderhawk to say such a thing, as he no doubt wanted to see the Dark Brotherhood die for such a horrible act on his daughter. "We will do everything we can, sire," the male echidna promised as he dug the butt of his spear into the snowy ground. "If anything, we will cut their numbers, and they won't have a foot to stand on when it comes to their twisted operation in Skyrim."

"Do whatever you can. Just make them pay for this," Thunderhawk said darkly as he wanted revenge for what had befell his child. "Ulynda will take the throne of Dawnstar for now. That is my order as I lack any guardians to send here to take it in the mean time." Turning to the captain, he pointed at the man irritably. "Guard her well. If I hear the Dark Brotherhood has struck again, I will be forced to take matters into my own hands, and I lack the funds and army to wage an all out war against these bastards."

The captain of the guarded nodded, wishing to redeem himself in the eyes of the guardian. "I won't let you down again, sire. I swear it."

Thunderhawk knew it wasn't something that could easily be stopped or even predicted. As easy as it would be to blame everyone for their mistakes, he left Dawnstar slowly that coming evening after his daughter's burial and the temporary crowning of Ulynda. He didn't have it in him to ride briskly back to Winterhold with his heart weighing down the idea.

(())

Sara-Li had the worst time trying to think of sleep that night. Tiptoeing from the bed she shared with her mother, she made her way back out into the blistering cold of Winterhold to see that the guardian's light in his bedroom remained off still. _Where is he…? _Sara-Li wondered as she kept her coat wrapped tightly about her. The winter air was always worse around the evening hours, and the thick attire she wore was doing very little to stop the chill.

Looking to the guards at the nearby gate, Sara-Li marched over towards them with a curious raise of her brow. "E-Excuse me…?" Seeing the guards look down at her, she moved her periwinkle hair from her eyes. "Has Lord Thunderhawk returned yet…?" Perhaps he was merely sleeping and that was why his light wasn't on.

"Not yet, child," one of them answered. "You really should be in doors right now. It is far too late for one your age to be wandering around at this hour."

Sighing, Sara-Li turned on her heels to head back to the bedroom only to stop when she heard the familiar sound of a horse trotting up the bridge. Even in the wee hours of the night, the guards announced the arrival of Thunderhawk while pushing open the iron gate for him. Turning back around, she hurried towards the entrance but kept a respectable distance incase the guardian came running through on his steed. When Thunderhawk came into view, she was about to run up to him to make sure everything was okay but stopped when she noticed his head lowered and the saddened look upon his face.

"Th-Thunderhawk…?" Sara-Li called, noticing the horse stop for a moment at her calling to him. Her curious yet worried eyes looking up at him, she didn't even bother to ask if something was wrong, as she knew all too well that something bad had happened. "What…what happened…?"

Thunderhawk didn't have the heart to explain it so soon. Opening his mouth to even attempt to do so was painful on its own, and with the tears threatening to spill over again, he nudged his stallion forwards to head to the doors, which would lead him into the college and take him to his room for the day.

Sara-Li felt her chest tighten. Seeing him so upset and so broken was like seeing her fairytale crumble around her. Bringing her hand up to her eyes, she felt her tears sting worse than usually as the icy wind bit at the salty tears that spilled over her eyes and crept down her cheeks.

Devon watched from the shadowed overhang of the college as his daughter tried to understand that not everybody was as strong as they seemed. His heart aching at the sight of her there, he ventured over to her to hug his child tightly from behind. "It'll be okay, Sara-Li," he whispered tenderly to her before kissing her tear stained cheek.

Turning to her father, she held him tightly as she sobbed softly at the idea a ruler such as Thunderhawk could show such emotions. It was hard for her young mind to wrap around. "I've never seen him so hurt before, daddy…"

"Even rulers can face feelings such as loss, anger, and jealousy," Devon explained to his teenage daughter as he kept a tight hold onto her. "Your mother and I do as well, but we do our best to hide it from you and your brother."

"Will he be okay…?" Sara-Li asked with a furrow of her brow.

"Of course he will," Devon said with a tender smile. "Just give him time to recover, sweetheart." Keeping Sara close to his side, he escorted her towards their room. "Come, let's get you out of the cold and back to bed."

Sara-Li did as her father suggested but not without looking back up at Thunderhawk's bedroom window once more. She did see the light come on, and while it was a comfort to know he was back at Winterhold, it was still hard knowing he was upset and depressed over something regarding his daughter.

* * *

The year that passed was agonizing for Sara-Li. While Troy lived nearby the ruler, he too was rarely seeing Thunderhawk venture beyond his bedroom door. Troy even became bold enough to knock on the double doors one day to try and give him food, but he found himself knocking and calling to the guardian for several hours until he just gave up. The next time he tried, he was turned away by guards who stood watch over the entrance of the bedroom door.

"So he's not eating at all…?" Sara-Li asked Troy one day with a worried frown. She was exhausted from the anxiousness that continued to rake through her form. It had been so many suns and moons since either of them last saw him.

Troy shrugged as he continued to chop the onions he had in front of him on the cutting board. He was off of work, but he found cooking to be a fond passion of his, and it was something to keep his mind off of things. "The court has been talking a lot lately," he whispered to her, even if they appeared to be the only ones in the kitchen. "They said that Lady Janelle-Li was murdered, and that is why Lord Thunderhawk is so upset and not showing his face."

Sara-Li and the others outside the court were unaware as to what was going on to cause Thunderhawk to react in such a way. "His daughter died…? D-Do you know what happened to cause it…?"

"I don't know," Troy sighed, as he finished with the onions and moved them off the cutting board and into the tomato soup he was making for himself, though would possibly pass some to Sara-Li, as she was looking sickly lately. "They won't talk about it. The house jarl is trying to keep things together with the high priest, Baltheer." Pouring a bowl of the soup after stirring it a bit more, he offered it over to Sara-Li. "You should eat. You look like crap."

She didn't have the energy to get cross with Troy at his comment as she accepted his soup. "Thank you," Sara whispered, taking the spoon he offered her next.

"You might want to add pepper to it next, but I don't know. Some people like it because it adds more flavor," said Troy as he poured himself his own bowl.

Sara-Li took her soup and sat down on one of the benches in the kitchen to try and enjoy herself and take her mind off of things. After taking one sip, she leaned back against the stone wall to recollect herself.

"C'mon, it's not that bad," Troy teased as he sat down beside her. When she didn't even crack a smile, he twisted his mouth to the side in thought on what to do. He knew being a bit frustrated with her came second nature, but she was so weak and fragile, that he didn't want to make it worse for her by just being his usual self. "It's going to be okay," Troy insisted with a furrow of his brow. "Thunderhawk isn't dead. He's just saddened…he lost his daughter…"

"I should be more understanding of it but…it feels like he doesn't care about me, you know?" Sara-Li said, her voice trembling a bit as she spoke. "I guess I feel like his child that he just cast out because he lost his favorite…" The more she focused on her words, the more selfish she was beginning to realize she sounded. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't speak like that…"

Troy was quiet for a second until shaking his head at her apology. "I felt the same way when it came to my cooking. He always would sneak down and steal food from Ivan, and not once would he eat my food or bother to eat the food I helped prepare. I felt like his son who wasn't good enough."

"You know he never felt that way," said Sara-Li reassuringly as she reached over to hold his right thigh tightly. "He always liked everything you did. I just don't think he had the time to show you he did."

Feeling her hand there on his thigh made Troy's heart race and his breathing almost hasten. He ended up casually moving his legs closer to one another to politely ask in a non-verbal way to remove her hand. "I know," he said softly with a brief smile upon his muzzle.

After eating the soup Troy had prepared for her, Sara-Li found herself heading back to Thunderhawk's bedroom door. The guards were no longer there, making Sara-Li relieved she wouldn't have to put up with them as she ventured to the bedroom door to knock upon it. "Lord Thunderhawk…? It's me, Sara-Li…I just want to talk to you…"

It was quiet on the other side. She heard no sound indicating that the elder was heading for the bedroom door to let her in. Sara waited for a moment, knocking once more in hopes he would answer her. She stopped soon enough when she heard the sound of feet traveling across the floor on the other side to make it to the intricately decorated doors. Her heart raced as the doorknob moved finally to open and reveal a much older looking Thunderhawk. Sara-Li caught her breath at the wrinkles she didn't notice before about his mouth and how his once brown beard turned white as snow—mismatching his brown colored eyebrows.

"You can come in, Sara-Li," he whispered, his voice still sounding the same as he spoke.

Sara-Li stepped into the bedroom, unable to keep her eyes off of him in the process. "Thunderhawk…what…happened…?"

His weary eyes, which showed much heaviness in them still with the sadness he felt over losing his daughter a year ago, looked down at Sara with curiousness in them before realizing she was probably meaning that broadly. "I lost my only daughter to the Dark Brotherhood a year ago," he answered, heading back to his bed behind the slightly curved cobblestone barrier. "Losing her was…it was hard…"

"It was only a year, but you look old," Sara-Li came right out to say. "I thought guardians couldn't age."

"We age slower than most," Thunderhawk answered with a sideways smile. "Because we have an unnatural lifespan, our emotions choose how quickly we age. Since I lost my daughter…I slipped into despair, and my body aged from the sorrow that crippled me. I was just too ashamed to show what had become of myself in the process of grieving."

Sara-Li made her way towards Thunderhawk to hug him tightly as she buried her face into his chest. "I was so worried about you…!" she sobbed, her body trembling as she did so. "I was so scared that you were just going to die…!"

Feeling her tears soak his tunic, Thunderhawk embraced her tightly in return to let her know he was there. "I am sorry, little Sara," he whispered apologetically upon her periwinkle hair. "I didn't mean to worry you so." Feeling how thin she was against her baggy clothing, he hated the thought that he had caused her to worry so much. "Sara-Li, you are so thin." Thunderhawk examined Sara-Li at arm's length to get a better look at her as she did the same with him and his new 'aged' appearance.

"I couldn't eat," Sara-Li hiccupped as she wiped her teary cheeks with her sleeves. "I was so scared you were going to just waste away, and I wouldn't see you again…"

Thunderhawk had a hard time realizing that it had been a year since he last saw her and Troy. He knew Troy must be cross with him too, as he lost count of the times he heard the young boy come to his bedroom door to try and get the elder to surface. While it would have been easy to open his mouth to defend himself, Thunderhawk knew he didn't have a good excuse to avoid everyone for so long. Smiling at Sara-Li briefly, he reached over to help dry her eyes. "How about you, Troy, and I all go out on a picnic not far from Winterhold? I hadn't been outside in so long now, and I could use a good time away from here."

"A-Are you sure…?" Sara-Li asked, not wanting to intrude on his grieving, but she wanted him to recover and talk to people again—be happy once more.

Gesturing to the door, Thunderhawk continued. "Go get Troy. It's been too long since our last lesson anyways. Not that I plan on us doing much casting, mind you, but we can at least discuss a few things."

"I will get Troy then!" Sara-Li said excitedly as she excused herself from the room. "I will be right back!"

Thunderhawk pushed himself up off of the bed and wandered towards the door slowly with a smile. "I will come with you. We have to get food together, anyways, for the picnic." Reaching for Sara's hand, he held it tightly, as he realized how much he needed to just hold onto someone again and feel contact with someone beyond his guards and royal court.

-  
_**Author's Notes**_: I thank Aqua111 on DA for the idea that sadness/loss causes the guardians to speed up a bit in aging.


	8. Chapter 8

"It's not too cold out here for you, is it?" Thunderhawk asked Sara-Li upon the two with Troy making it out of Winterhold to picnic not far away as planned. He knew that she had lost a good deal of weight, and that on top of her fur not being equip to handle the temperature to begin with worried him a bit.

Sara-Li kept her coat close to her body with a shake of her head at Thunderhawk's worry. "I am fine. My mamma made this coat, and it keeps me warm."

Thunderhawk could still see she was shaking, making him remove his cobalt colored cape to drape over her for extra measure. "Just to be safe," he said with a smile. "I don't want you going home with a cold."

Troy had a hard time getting over the sudden appearance change in Thunderhawk that he didn't take offense to the two acting so close. He was so surprised when he first saw the elder that the words, which escaped from his mouth, were 'you look old'. "You can still cast magic and everything, right?" Troy couldn't understand that Thunderhawk was only looking older.

"If you're asking if I am going to end up on constant bed rest until I roll over like an old dog and die, the answer is, 'no'," the jarl chuckled, reaching for the hot herbal tea that Troy had made while Ivan was off for a change. "I've only aged in appearance, Troy—I am not mentally any older. At least, I don't feel it anyways."

"When do you plan on teaching us magic still?" Troy asked curiously as he was mindful of the hot soup he brought out with them, pouring himself a bowl.

"I can't do that until Sara-Li gets her energy back." She had no doubt lost a good deal of her energy in refusing to eat properly in the past year, so Thunderhawk didn't desire to push the idea. "We will get back into practicing when possible, but until then, I think we all could use a bit of a breather given past events by just talking about magic."

Catching up with his two students, Thunderhawk kept to himself how much he had missed in the past year. Being that the teens were so young still, he didn't wish to burden them with his pain. When he felt Sara-Li fall asleep next to him on the handmade blanket, he kept her wrapped up tightly in his cape before picking her up into his arms. "Troy," he whispered, gesturing to the items on the blanket, "can you pick up the bowls and everything and put it in the basket, so we can get it back to the college's kitchen? If one of those goes missing, Ivan will have my head."

"Funny how a man with so much power is afraid of his own head chef," Troy smirked as he did as he was asked.

Thunderhawk's brow wrinkled as he gave Troy a questionable look. "Well, do _**you**_ want to cross him? I could blame the missing utensils on you, if you're so brave."

Troy grumbled, shaking his head at him. "No thank you…"

"That's what I thought," Thunderhawk grinned as he opened his free arm for the basket as he kept Sara-Li upon his other hip. On their way back, he thought on what to say about his absence from Troy. The boy was desperate to get him to surface from his bedroom, but Thunderhawk never found the energy or the courage to face the young echidna. "I am sorry about avoiding the door for a year, Troy," he finally apologized. "Like I said before, I was just too embarrassed to show my face. I also didn't think it was you or Sara-Li's responsibility to hear my problems."

Troy still wanted to remain angry with Thunderhawk, but with the elder openly apologizing to him, it was hard to continue doing so. Sighing upwards, he blew his white hair out of his face. "Sara-Li deserves the apology more than me. She was so hurt over you disappearing."

"You just handled it better, Troy," said the jarl as he opened the iron gate to the college's courtyard. "I appreciate that, and I am appreciative that you kept Sara-Li in one piece." Here, he handed over the basket to the young lightning mage. "Can you do me a favor and take that back to the kitchen while I drop off Sara-Li?"

Accepting the basket, he nodded, "I can." He would have offered to take Sara-Li in his place, but he wasn't too familiar with her family, and would find himself a bit uncomfortable in the process.

Thunderhawk fixed the cape a bit on the sleeping Sara-Li before making his way to the living space that her family shared. He was a bit reluctant to knock on the door given how Devon and Jade-Li's daughter reacted to his sudden disappearance from the public eye. The elder couldn't help but feel responsible for Sara-Li's loss in appetite and weight. Gathering up what courage he could, he rapped his knuckles upon the closed door, waiting for someone to answer.

The eighteen-year-old Cyrus made it to the door to see Thunderhawk holding his sister. He was more surprised at seeing the jarl walking around that he didn't realize he had been staring at him for awhile. "I, umm—your Highness—you are…what is—is Sara-Li okay?" he asked, as he wasn't aware she was merely sleeping.

Thunderhawk noticed that the beige furred echidna was growing his hair out still, and that once, short periwinkle hair was now upon his mid-back in a ponytail. He smiled at the question, soothing the brother's worry as he rubbed Sara-Li's back gently. "She's fine, son. Sara-Li is merely exhausted from our time out and about Winterhold."

Hearing that all too familiar voice, Devon was quick to remove himself from the reading chair he was sitting at to make it to the doorway and notice that it was indeed Thunderhawk…only older looking. "Thunderhawk…! I—what happened to you…?"

Handing the exhausted Sara-Li over to Cyrus, his cape still wrapped about her, he smiled wearily to Devon's question. "That's a long story best saved for a day I can take you out for ale," he lightly teased. "Long story short, however, I am fine, and I should be appearing about the college a bit more frequently." Watching Cyrus put Sara-Li down on the bed to rest, his smile turned into a worried frown at how Devon and Jade-Li probably felt about him being the cause for their daughter's decrease in health. "I apologize for my disappearance," he whispered to the beige colored echidna. "I didn't expect Sara would react in such a way."

Devon looked back at his daughter, his fingertips tapping upon the woodwork of the entryway he stood in. "Nobody did," he admitted between them. "It isn't your fault, sire. I think she's just grown attached to you." A small smile made its way across Devon's muzzle. "Perhaps, one could even say, a 'crush' as well."

Thunderhawk scoffed playfully at the idea. "A 'crush', you say? On an old man like me?" he shook his head, waving the idea way. "Besides, I think Troy has other ideas when it comes to the young Sara-Li, anyways."

"Troy?" Devon wondered. "I've heard Sara-Li mention him now and again, but usually it is because she is irritated with him."

"A young lad thing, I am sure," Thunderhawk said with a chuckle. "There was always a moment where we teased the woman we loved."

"Some of us still do," Devon joked before scratching his black hair in thought. "Well, it is good to know that there is someone who has taken an interest in our young Sara-Li, but that does mean we should have that 'talk' with her."

"I have an eye on the two a majority of the time, and I can assure you that your child is still—," Thunderhawk paused, as he was unsure of the right word to use at first, "—_**pure**_, I guess I should say."

"That is good to know," laughed Devon as he pushed himself from the doorway. "I should let you continue your duties then, my Lord. I am relieved you're okay." A part of him still had a difficult time accepting the fact that Thunderhawk had actually grayed a bit in his personal solitude up in his room for a year, but Devon could tell that the guardian was still functioning just fine all the same.

Thunderhawk felt the worry lift off of him as he nodded at Devon's concerns. "I appreciate it, Devon. Tell Sara-Li she can bring my cape back to me in the morning." After his farewell, the lilac echidna made his way back towards his bedroom to study a bit more before retiring for the day.

* * *

Jade-Li was brought up to speed on what was going on with the jarl of Winterhold when she returned late last night from shopping at the town's market. Upon hearing of a boy who had a crush on her young daughter, she had a hard time believing it was possibly that time already—to tell her youngest child about relationships and being a woman. "Well," she began, privately to her husband the next morning, "she has hit her heat cycle about a year ago, so I guess now would be as good a time as any to tell her about boys and men."

"Now would be better than ever," Devon insisted with a tender smile to his wife as he held her arms supportively. "It seems that young boy already has his eyes on her, even if she's not returning the affection."

Kissing her husband's cheek, Jade-Li promised she would do so as she pulled from Devon's embrace to speak with her daughter, who was waiting just outside of the living quarters of Winterhold. Seeing her teenage daughter there, Jade-Li had a hard time believing that Sara-Li was so old already. It seemed as though time was just flying by. Walking further into the overhang around them, Jade-Li smiled when Sara's eyes met with hers. "Hey, sweetheart," she greeted kindly before placing her hand upon the young child's shoulder to rub her there. "How are you doing this morning?"

"I'm okay," Sara-Li answered, keeping the cape of the elder wrapped tightly about her. She felt a good deal of comfort when wrapped in the fabric that smelt so much like the lilac echidna. "I was just reading this book Lord Thunderhawk gave me." She showed the thick tome to her mother, a bit prideful that she was finally able to read better than her own mother.

Jade-Li was happy that the leader of Winterhold had taken time out of his day to help her daughter read and write better. She felt bad that she never seemed to even have the time when they lived there in the college, as she was busy with a small store she had opened just outside of the town since nobody would bother with her goods knowing she came from the college grounds. "That's wonderful, sweetie." These talks were never easy, so trying to find a means to begin the talk was a challenge. "Sara-Li, can I talk to you about something, honey?"

"Yeah, mom," said Sara-Li, as she could tell that whatever it was had to be important given her mother's tone. "What is wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong," Jade-Li responded, reaching her hand out for Sara to take. "Come with me. I just want to have a mother and daughter talk is all."

Accepting her mother's gesture, Sara-Li followed her about the courtyard of the college. She was a bit nervous about what could be on her mother's mind. Normally they never had these talks unless something big was about to happen.

Jade-Li knew that beating around the bush wouldn't help anything, so she did her best to get right on the subject matter. "So I heard that there's a young boy that appears to be interested in you."

Sara-Li never really acknowledged the advances or obvious hints by Troy. She always just assumed that the young boy was being obnoxious on purpose. "Wh-What are you talking about?" she asked, moving her periwinkle hair out of her face. "I don't know what boy you mean."

"Apparently, Lord Thunderhawk says that a young man named 'Troy' seems to have taken interest in you," Jade-Li said with a tender smile at her daughter's sudden blush at the name.

"T-Troy!" she exclaimed with a shake of her head. "N-No, that can't be right…he always gripes at me whenever he can." Sara-Li grumbled to herself. "He's nothing but a jerk at times, so I don't know where Thunderhawk got _**that**_ idea."

"Boys do have an interesting way of showing their love, my dear." Jade-Li couldn't help but smile fondly at the time she met Devon. "Your father wasn't exactly 'impressive' when he was courting me. I thought he was just being a jerk as well when he knocked over the ale on my tray and got me soaked in the liquor back at my serving wench position in Marrowind. In all honesty, he wasn't sure how to approach me, and he was nervous—causing him to flail about and accidentally knock into me. This Troy might be the same," Jade-Li explained with a small giggle. "His words must get lost in the process of trying to speak with you, and they might come out wrong."

Sara-Li blushed, wondering if that was true. She never really thought of Troy as anything other than that annoying brotherly type, as he did dote on her now and again. "Well, I…I never really asked him how he felt, because I didn't think he liked me like that…"

"Whether it's true or not, it matters not, Sara-Li. What I wanted to talk to you about is how you're of age to start a relationship with boys," explained Jade-Li best she could without it being too awkward. "What matters most about this sort of situation, Sara-Li, is that you only do what makes _**you**_ feel comfortable. If something doesn't feel right to you, you say 'no' and walk away."

"I know, mamma," Sara-Li said with a nod to her mother. In all honesty, she couldn't wrap her mind around the idea that Troy even loved her.

"Also, you are the only one to decide if you are ready for a child of your own. You are old enough to make one if you give yourself to a young man completely." Jade-Li knew her daughter was responsible, but it didn't prevent her from digging into her pocket to pull out her own herbal birth control all the same to show to Sara-Li. "I trust you not to be intimate with a boy so soon into your teen years, but just in case, I want you to take these herbs daily. It will make sure you don't produce any eggs with any man you sleep with."

Sara-Li did her best to hide her wild blush at the idea of sleeping with anybody. It was still such a foreign concept, even if her parents themselves weren't very quiet about their love making in the other room. "You don't have to worry about that one, mom," Sara-Li promised bashfully. "I have no interest in such things right now."

Smiling at her child's words, Jade-Li kissed her forehead before hugging her close. "I know I can trust you, sweetie. Just be safe, and know that your father, brother, and I are always here for you."

"Will you hurry the hell up with that?" Ivan growled from the royal kitchen, gesturing the wooden ladle he carried to indicate what he wanted where. "I'm going to be on vacation, and I don't want a damn thing out of order!"

Troy looked over his shoulder at the angry shouts from the polar bear before gazing back at Krine curiously. "Where is he going?"

The rabbit shrugged his shoulders with an unimpressed look as he continued to move the barrels full of lettuce carefully into place nearest to the other salad items. "He does this every now and again," Krine grunted, as he moved to his feet after getting the barrel perfectly in place. "He'll vacation about Skyrim and learn more from the other chefs as well as pick up ingredients along the way to further his skills as he dabbles."

"He just…goes alone?" Troy asked, as he didn't like the idea of the old bear venturing about a dragon infested world alone.

Krine scoffed as he worked on situating the onions and carrots next. "Can you imagine a single person in this room who can tolerate the old bear for a year on the road? Of course he goes alone! We don't have to worry about Ivan yelling at us since he's gone!"

While Ivan could be unbearable at times, Troy still worried about him. Excusing himself from what he was supposed to be doing, the young echidna hurried behind the polar bear to speak with him. "Ivan? Can I talk to you real quick?"

"It better be worth my time, because every second you waste talking to me, shit in this kitchen isn't getting done," Ivan growled, continuing at a hurried pace to make it to his bedchambers to work on packing still as he had already given everyone their orders.

"I wanted to talk to you about this trip you're taking," Troy said eagerly, trying to keep up with the chef best he could.

Ivan turned the nearby corridor and made it to his bedroom finally. "What of it?"

Troy wondered how he would ask such a thing. He really wanted to see what Ivan did to further his cooking skills, as he was interested in doing so with himself. "I—take me with you!" he blurted out at the doorway.

"I am not going to babysit you, Troy," Ivan insisted, moving the items he would need into his bags he had lined about on the floor to take to the carriage just outside of Winterhold. "And if you think I need babysitting, I will show you right here and now that that is far from the truth."

"It isn't like that," Troy grumbled, wishing the bear would stop thinking there was a catch to his offers. "I want to further my cooking with you, and I know the only way to do that, is to go on this trip with you…you know, more one on one time and all?"

Ivan actually paused in the shifting about of his luggage when he heard Troy say such a thing. He raised his thick, gray brow at the young echidna, wondering if the mage was serious. "Hu…never knew a dedicated mage to be so interested in cooking as well. Normally the magic pulls them in and they give up on their talent as a chef." While he wouldn't say out in the open to Troy, he had felt that the young boy was different from most other students he took in. Troy was driven and passionate about his ability to cook—even at a young age he was curious, and he made something so simple taste wonderful. Ivan was proud of him, but because of this, he pushed Troy the hardest.

"Alright then," said Ivan, crossing his arms upon his round belly. "I'll let you come with me, but you better do everything that I say, or I will leave you stranded with only a map as your means to get back home. Deal?"

Troy nodded eagerly, knowing he could practice his lightning magic along the way. "Deal! I just have to run it by Lord Thunderhawk first is all."

"Before you do that," began Ivan as he raised one hand to prevent the child from leaving his bedroom, "take my luggage to the carriage just outside of Winterhold College. Get it done quickly, as I still have a few other things to do, and when I am done, I will be leaving—with or without you."

Finding time away from his paperwork, Thunderhawk was working on his archery again, as he was out of practice given his time he spent in his bedroom. Taking the perfect archery pose quickly, he eyed the practice dummy there in the courtyard before releasing the arrow without a second thought to watch as it hit the target, but off the mark he had in mind. "Damn," he swore to himself, but his attention was soon shifted to Troy, as he heard the snow crunching underneath the boy's feet in a hurried fashion. "What's got you all in a rush?"

"I was coming to tell you that I was going to go with Ivan on his tour around Skyrim," Troy said out of breath. "I was hoping this would be…okay with you?"

Thunderhawk would have asked why Troy felt he needed the jarl's approval, but before he opened his mouth to do so, he realized that it was because Troy lacked any other father figure. Leaning upon his bow, he hummed in thought. "Well, if you're still interested in learning lightning magic, I can lend you quite a few books to take with you."

"Do you trust me with these books for a year's time?" Troy wondered, as he didn't expect Thunderhawk would give up his tomes for the young mage to read on such a long, and perhaps, dangerous journey.

"Of course I do." Thunderhawk gestured for Troy to follow him back to the college and to his room. "Besides, if you lose them or get them damaged, I will just make you work hard to pay me back for them. I warn you though, they are quite old, so their value is high," he lightly teased, grabbing up the ten, thick books he was thinking about.

Troy wobbled slightly in attempts to try and keep at least half of the stack in his arms. "You might want to start with this one," said Thunderhawk. grabbing up an old emerald green, leather bound tome. "After that, it is up to your discretion." Taking the other half of the books, the jarl headed back out of his room with Troy close behind him. "I'll help you with these."

Her sewing and studying supplies tied to her painted mare, Jade-Li helped her child upon the back of the steed carefully before mounting right behind her. Since Sara-Li was done with her studying and practicing, she had decided to help tend to her mother's shop out of Winterhold. "I'm getting closer—trying to get that light blast down," Sara-Li said with a smile to her mother. She had been practicing the technique that Thunderhawk had taught her a year ago, as the young Sara-Li had yet to get it down completely, as she lacked control over the magical attack.

Pulling gently on the reins of the mare, Jade-Li smiled down at her daughter. "I've noticed that, sweetie. You really have come a long way since we first arrived here." Jade was beyond proud of her daughter. Along the way, Sara-Li had even picked up some spells to help soothe her brother's weak lungs—making it a bit easier for Cyrus to manage in the harsh, thin winter air.

"I think Troy gave up on his defensive skill," Sara-Li said with disappointment, "but he still at least studies and practices."

"The boy takes on a lot of things at once, from what I've been told by you," Jade-Li commented with a tender smile as the horse trucked through the snow. "I am sure he just lacks the appropriate time to really dedicate himself to one thing."

Upon making it back to the bridge of Winterhold, Jade and Sara noticed the horse drawn carriage being loaded up by Ivan and Troy. "Speak of the devil," Jade-Li said with a curious tilt of her head. "Looks like he appears to be going somewhere?" She wanted to point out that it appeared he was moving, but Jade-Li wasn't sure how her daughter would take to that since Troy was the only other teen about her age that she could spend time with.

Grabbing onto the fabric of her dress, Sara-Li kept it out of her way as she hurried through the snow covered courtyard to Troy and Ivan. "Troy?" she called curiously, stopping right before the maroon furred echidna. "Where are you going? You're not leaving…are you?"

"Only for a little while," said Troy, curious as to why she sounded so upset about the idea. "It might be a year or so, but I am traveling around Skyrim with Ivan for a bit."

Sara-Li couldn't help but be a bit worried. Skyrim was full of dragons, bandits, and even worse things out there she had only read about in stories from the college's library. "Please tell me you'll be careful…the both of you." When she saw Troy make that annoyed face, Sara-Li sighed and merely reached for him to hold him tightly with a kiss to his cheek. Upon hugging him, she realized how badly she didn't want him to leave.

Troy blushed wildly at the random kiss, struggling to even think on returning the hug but eventually brought himself to doing so. "I'll be back," he said, a small scoff tingling on his words. "It isn't like I am going away forever." When she didn't remove herself, Troy rubbed her back supportively. "I'll keep practicing my lightning magic, and I hope to be better when I return."

Furrowing her brow, Sara gripped tightly onto Troy's attire for a moment before pulling back reluctantly. Inwardly, she couldn't help but be worried she'd never see from him again. "I'll…see you when you get back then…"

Seeing her violate eyes shine with the hint of tears, Troy sighed. "Don't cry," he practically pleaded. "I am not going to let anything happen to Ivan or myself. I promise!" Using his thumb, he massaged her cheek before kissing the spot nervously. A part of him had hoped he hadn't overstepped the line, but inwardly, he had wanted to do that for awhile now without it being awkward for them. His fingers running through his own, wild white hair, he saw that she appeared alright with the kiss. "I'll-uh-I'll see you later then?"

Sara-Li tried not to be obvious in her movements, as she briefly brushed the spot he had kissed. Nodding at his reassurance, she walked slowly backwards to make it back towards her mother as Ivan had finally finished packing up the carriage and was about to take off. Hugging her mother tightly, the periwinkle colored echidna expelled a nasally sigh. "He says he'll be back, mom, and I trust him."

Jade-Li smiled down at her daughter, hugging her tightly before kissing her head. "I'm so proud of you," she whispered, thankful that Sara-Li was handling this departure a bit better than the last, unexpected one, with Thunderhawk. "Let's get back inside to make dinner for your father and brother, alright?" Holding her youngest close, Jade-Li ventured back to their home.


End file.
